The Owls
by MrRouty
Summary: This Story is set in a world very different from our own but its history is our future. The pursuit of long life and trials to cure the growing ailments of mankind have lead to the creation of monsters far darker and more twisted than our nightmares could conjure. In this future being pureblood is a death sentence and with each pureblood slain mankind is condemned to linger longer
1. Prologue

Brussels, 10:34, 15th October 2033.

"We are gathered here today to vote on a matter that has been at the heart of mankinds drive for medical advancement since the dawn of time. We have been given glimpses of what could happen but no assurances have been made that this serum will infact grant long life without side effects. We have been given the word and the test study results of Dr Frank Ian Stein an expert in the fields of Molecular Biology and Blood Synthetic Research at the Global Medicine and Cure Research Facility in New Jersey, that the side effects are minimal, short term and are easy to treat with simple antibiotics and painkillers if they arise, which in his study was one in every two hundred and forty subjects. His study has been across almost five thousand subjects at various ages, ethnical backgrounds, blood types and no singluar variable stood out. With this in mind we must vote at least eighty percent in favour to allow this to become widely available."

The vast room for a moment broke its silence as those eagerly listening began to discuss what they had heard. There was still more to be said as the speaker waited for he chatter to disperse.

"We must also take in to account Dr Steins previous work, his Synthetic Blood Donations now means that thirty seven percent of the worlds population now have Type S Blood making them immune to blood clots, all blood based cancers and diseases. This also means that these three hundred and seventy million people are likely to out live others based on the mortality rates of blood affected deaths over the last ten years increasing substantially. As well as his life changing Synthetic Blood Dr Stein has also given us the Bio-Plastic Organs, which have reduced organ affected deaths globally by a massive sixty nine percent in the last five years."

The room erupted again with chatter, it was public knowledge of the success Dr Stein had gained because of his research and application of his ground breaking life changing designs. The BP Organ List was also public knowledge and many of the older members of the gathered council had their names upon the list. Several of them more than a few times. But Dr Stein had made it clear that this information should be made public, however those with Type S Blood were not expected to be placed on the list, they had the option to remain anonymous unless they already had or would later have a Bio-Plastic Organ Transplant.

"Please Ladies and Gentlemen may I continue?"

The room fell silent except for the door clicking shut.

"We must not look just at the success of Dr Stein's work, we must also look to the moral and viability of this action. The Population of the World took a heart shattering drop in the wake of the E-Virus and this cowardice act has left us bitter and full of hatred, but would our world be better off with us living longer. You have all received and I hope read the vast, and I make no apology for the amount of reading that has been required, outline for what we are voting on. Please remember that both delegates from each Country must Vote, junior delegate votes are worth one in favor while senior delegate votes count as three in favor. You will have ten minutes to consider and cast your vote starting now."

Except for a few muffled whispers the room was almost silent for every minute of the time allowed. In fact the majority of votes had been cast within the first two minutes, it took the junior delegate of Tunisa nine minutes and forty three seconds to finally decide and once his vote was in the result would be final.

The electronic voting system required both a finger print and iris scan to confirm the vote so there was no chance of the votes being tampered with. Every one of the three hundred and twelve represented countries had their Vote revealed and confirmed as the counting began. Germany had been first to cast their votes, both delegates agreed that the LLS Drug would be given to all new born children born after the 1st January 2035. The Albanian delegates voted in favor of a Global dispensary of the drug from the 1st of January 2035, so all those alive now and after would receive the drug. Surprisingly the delegates of England, France, Spain, Wales, West Poland and Croatia voted in favor of the Child proposal. Russia and Australia voted for no action to be taken and to have the drug destroyed. China voted for a Global Issue and then Italy and the Vatican voted to destroy the drug. Once the final vote from Tunisa had been revealed the outcome had already been long decided. With a total of eighty six percent of the vote all children born on and after the 1st January 2035 would receive the LLS Drug and have a much longer productive life than those before them.


	2. Chapter 1

Cardiff Prime, 2162.

"Don't keep looking back just keep running you idiot." The clanging of feet on the gangway echoed right through the seemingly abandoned building. Parts of Cardiff Prime had long since been left to fester in the claws of those that now inhabit the area.

"If you don't keep moving they will get in front of us and we won't make it out, so move it!" The young lad chanced a look at his watch as he followed his brother around a blind bend in the gangway. "We have thirty minutes until sundown Cade, Cade... thirty minutes!"

His brother picked up his pace as he turned one way then another following the gangway they had used to enter the building. "We can make it, only a few more corn..." the youngest of the two never finished what he started. The gangway collapsed beneath him sending him tumbling to the floor below. His brother managed to stop in time to avoid falling with him.

"Cade? Can you hear me?..." his brother's body just laid there, a pool of blood had began to form near his head. "If you can hear me Cade, I'm sorry." Without a second thought the other brother jumped the gap and continued to run as the clanging behind him drew closer, much faster than he had expected, his heart raced, suddenly a shooting pain shot up his leg but he continued on, the creatures were now right behind him.

A pounding sensation raced forward as Cade struggled to open his eyes, he tried to call out to his brother but his throat was dry and raw. Trying to focus he looked about as best as he could. It was dark so he knew the sun had already set and unless Brett had fallen with him, then he would be alone. He stopped and thought of Brett for a few moments, the fall was sudden and he hoped Brett was ok. With his sight now working as well as it should, trying not to move too much he looked about. The gaping hole he had fallen through was right above him, its dark outline just visible in the darkness, he moved his eyes down the nearest support to see if his brother had met his fate but all he could see was stone work and the occasional stray shopping trolley. Turning his head he felt a sharp pain shoot across his shoulders and he winced,determined to check the other side of him he tried to fight through the pain however a flood of pain caused him to stop and once it had subsided he continued. His efforts were fruitless, he could hardly make out anything in the shadows but he had assured himself that Brett had not fallen with him, so he must have made it out. Shifting slightly to gain his balance he felt the cold sticky feeling of his own blood on the floor he shrugged it off as his headache now made sense. Lifting himself to his knees he was pleased to find pain shooting up and down his body, he could feel his toes, legs, hips, his shoulders, arms even his fingers all showed no sign of damage, just excruciating amounts of pain. Cade managed to pull himself to his feet but kept crouched as he didn't know what else would be near by. He moved slowly into the shadows keeping his eyes fixed on the gangway and the vast floor space to his right. His heart rate settled and he felt a warm trickle running down his left leg and he knew he was still bleeding from somewhere on his leg. After letting the cool air of the night wash over him for a few moments he picked himself up and began climbing back up to the gangway. The flooring had not completely detached from above so he was able to use it to help him back up to where he fell from. The gangway was quiet, no sound at all, unlike when he fell, the heavy pounding footsteps that had been chasing them still echoed in his ears. It was however far too quiet.

Slowly he managed to find his way unhindered to the door out into the shopping street. The air rushed passed him in a biting chill, forcing him to lower his head to guard his eyes from the wind. No more than a few feet from him he noticed a torn section of cloth, dark brown and vaguely familiar. Nearby was a scattered pattern of blood with a trainer laying on its side, the trainer was very familiar, it looked like Brett's. A piercing cry broke the silence and Cade froze, if those monsters had caught up with Brett then his brother was long dead. His heart sank but the fear of what was lurking nearby kept him quiet and still. After a moment he took a step back toward the door then without warning he felt something hit the back of his head and then everything went dark.

The clanging of the gangway had echoed from deep within the building which was slowly getting closer, unsure who or what was making the noise the slender form of a woman peered out of where she had spent the longest period of her life in hiding. Every now and then a hiss or an ear wrenching cry made her stand still, the building was crawling with monsters, yet someone had been stupid enough to wander in from the street. In the back of her mind she didn't really care, if they were stupid enough to come in then they deserved everything they got, that was her survival instinct talking, with them dead the monsters would simply leave her alone. However with them running around making so much noise the monsters could easily discover her.

From her hiding place she watched as two lads ran passed her, the gangway went straight over her head and she heard the oldest looking shouting at the one in front. In all the noise she discovered the one in front was called Cade, she followed them from below for a few moments before she watched as the floor panel swung down and the lad known as Cade fell, hitting his head on the ground. The other lad lingered for a few seconds calling down to his friend but there was no response. Fearing the worst the other lad left, swiftly behind him she watched as the monsters continued the chase toward the door. Once all the monsters had gone she crept from the shadows to the boys motionless body, she checked for a heart beat and she managed to find it, his breathing was shallow but he would be ok. Not wanting to wake him in case he got startled she settled into the shadows far enough away that he would not see her while at the same time she could watch over him safely.

To her surprise the monsters had not returned, the sun was setting so she expected them to be lingering near the door, that is if they hadn't already caught the other lad and instead would be feeding off his lifeless carcass. Cade had began to stir, she watched as he tried to call out, he spent a few minutes looking around the pain he was in visibly written all over his face. When he finally made it to his feet she watched with bated breath as he pushed through his pain to climb the gangway section that hung down where he fell. The building was eerily quiet. Once he was on the gangway again heading for the door she slowly and without a sound followed him. His movements were slow, steady but laboured, the fall had clearly hurt one or both of his legs. Once he reached the door his pace quickened slightly until he came to a dead stop beyond the door standing in the moon lit street. Slowly opening the door enough to see him, his head was down and he seemed to have noticed something on the floor. She watched as his head moved to trace a blood trail to a trainer and beyond. The boys face dropped at the sight of the trainer as though he recognised it and instantly she thought of the other lad, the eldest one, it must have been his. A haunting cry filled the otherwise silent air and the boy had frozen with fear, and with good reason the girl thought to herself. She opened the door enough to squeeze through then removed a heavy police stick from her coat and crept slowly up to the boy, Cade, his name is Cade, she said in her head as she whacked him across the back of his head.

As quietly as she could manage she dragged his body back along the gangway, the eerie silence was more terrifying than all of the creatures haunted laughing she had endured. Dropping down through the fallen section she pulled the body down after her and she managed to get him to land at least for a second or two on her shoulder before he hit the floor again. She pulled him into the dark shadows where she had hidden earlier and used a little water from her canteen to bring him round.

His eye lids fluttered a little as Cade attempted to open them, for the second time he felt a rush of pain in his head. Without being fully aware of where he was he rubbed his head and sighed.

"If I keep hitting my head it's gonna leave me like a tomato inside." He said a little louder than he probably intended.

"Sssh!" Said the girl as she shifted into his view. "You will lead them too us if you keep that up." She added handing him her canteen.

Cade looked at her puzzled, a little confused but not in the slightest bit concerned. "Thanks." He said as he took a swift drink. The water was surprisingly cool and tasted very different from the iron heavy water he was used to drinking. "Where am I?" He asked as he handed back the canteen.

"Where you fell. I had to bring you back here, those creatures that were chasing you and your friend are returning. You would have been caught if I left you out there.

Cade's heart stopped for a moment. Back where he fell, but why? And who was this girl. For the first time he stopped to consider her, dark long hair, well passed her shoulders, green eyes and her skin looked fairly soft and well kept. Her clothes however were tatty, holes and tears everywhere, the checked shirt she wore under the jacket hung off her shoulders, the leggings had seen better days. "Sorry and you are?" Cade looked at her intensely.

"My names Salt." She held out her hand to shake his, Cade shook it considering his options. "Your name is Cade. I saw you running with your friend before you fell." Her voice was low, almost a whisper.

"Cade, yes my names Cade, and my brother was Brett. What did you see?"

Her heart sank, his own brother had left him for dead, but she refused to tell him that, instead she explained that his brother had tried to get down to him but the creatures were too fast and he had to leave, saying he would bring help soon. Cade listened not challenging anything until the end.

"That sounds like Brett. But I don't think he will be back, I saw his trainer outside and blood. They probably got him as he tried to escape." He sat for a moment thinking.

The wind along Old Castle Street was vicious, its cold bite whipped at every exposed bit of flesh it could find. Every building had been abandoned, windows smashed some from the outside in, others from the inside out, trying to explain what had happened along here would have been impossible. Leaning against an old upstand lamp post Brett looked at his foot again. The rag from his shirt was soaked again in blood, the wound on his foot was deep, he had changed the rag twice since he sliced it on a shard of glass before he left the building where he had to leave his brother. His first attempt at wrapping his foot was interrupted by the creatures clawing at him from behind the door, in his rush the rag came off, he dropped his trainer and managed to drag his foot across the floor opening the wound even more. The second rag had been changed while he lay in the doorway of the old Merlin's shop off one of the side streets he had crossed over into, he thought, while it might take longer, he would weave down the main street using the side streets. If he left his blood soaked rags the monsters would think he went in a different direction than he was going. It was a risky plan but it was all he had.

Again he tore at his shirt sleeve to get a piece of cloth to tie about his foot. Slowly he peeled the other, feeling the dry blood around the wound rip away the tender flesh. He winced at the pain cursing under his breath, he had wished that Lacy or Luke had been with him, their first aid skills would be useful, although knowing Luke well he would probably suggest cutting his foot off to save the hassle, a thought Brett was starting to consider.

The last howl he had heard seemed close by, they had quickly gained on him since the sun had set. At one point two of them passed over him as he cowered beneath a trash bin. The loud clang of them landing on the bin lid made his blood run cold, he could not see what was going on but he imagined them fighting between themselves as the noise was terrible. Once they had moved on he waited a little while then crawled free and went off in the opposite direction. He hoped the cat and mouse game would soon come to an end, then as he had just tied the rag together the air screamed as several of the monsters let off their blood curdling cries. He didn't know what it meant but he didn't expect it to be good.

Mustering the strength he got to his feet and headed back toward the high street. Keeping his eyes on everything as he moved slowly from doorway to doorway, but there was no sign or sound of his pursuers, he made good progress along the street however he could feel the rag squelching underfoot, it would need to be changed again soon. Taking a moment to catch his breath he spotted a shadow move in the side street across the road from him, he could not make it out clearly. He remained still not wanting to breath he waited a moment and without warning he was pulled backward through the shop door.

Cade and Salt had managed to move from the fallen gangway to a small storeroom where the young woman had stored water and food in case she ever needed it. The room was actually off the path, so was not easy to stumble upon, Salt had explained she often used the room for days at a time with no monster coming anywhere near the door. They both sat eating a tin of slightly out of date beans and sweetcorn, it wasn't much but would do for now.

"So how did you get the name Salt?" Asked Cade as he shovelled a handful of sweetcorn into his mouth.

"I woke up one day alone in this building, I must have been about eight, I couldn't remember anything, even my name. So I decided that I would have to give myself a new name, I thought about it and finally looked up and saw a plastic bottle of table salt, so decided to call myself Salt." It was a bit of an odd story but Cade accepted it and smiled.

"Well I like it." He said as he smiled at her again. "What's the next move then Salt?" He took a spoonful of beans and washed it down with a swig of water.

"We sleep out the rest of the night and venture out after the suns up. See if we can find out what's happened to your brother if we can." There was a scuffle outside the door which caused Salt to bolt upright and head quietly toward the door. She peered through the several holes she had made, the corridor was empty, the creatures must have simply been moving passed, but it sounded like they were dragging something. Could it be Brett? She thought, she turned to look at Cade who's eyes were fixed on the door and his hand gripped around the spoon handle as though it was a mighty sword.

"Stay here, I'll check out what is going on." Cade went to argue with her but the look she gave him stopped any words wanting to leave his mouth. He noticed her grab a long black sheath from behind a coat which she strapped to her back. "I won't be long, if I'm not back by first light run." Salt opened the door slowly and stepped through into the corridor and pulled the door closed behind her.

The corridor was more shadow than light which Salt used as best as she could to follow the dragging sound. Aware that this corridor would lead to a stair well that in turn led to the abandoned staff kitchen of the hotel that occupied the upper floors of the building, she took her time peering cautiously around corners until the stair well came into view. The double doors were still moving slightly which meant that she had caught up with the monsters, she waited a few moments before moving toward the doors peering through the small windows. Within the stair well it was total darkness the faint outline of the top of the hand rail was just visible, taking a deep breath she drew her blade from its sheath and opened the doors.

Using every skill she could muster her steps were near silent, the occasional twang muffled off intothe darkness below. Remembering from previous attempts she avoided placing her hand on the hand rails, they had become loose and would clang at any given time without warning, so it was best to avoid it at all costs, more so now. The first step down creaked under her weight ever so slightly, enough to cause her to stop and wait, if this was going to happen every step down it was going to be a very slow progress, one that may prove fruitless if she makes even one wrong move. None the less she had to continue, if it was Brett down there she might be the only one who could get him out safely.


	3. Chapter 2

Brett felt the cold hands wrap around his face, covering his mouth and eyes as he was dragged backwards. He was quickly spun to face his grabber, he was met by the blue eyes of his closest friend. "Luke." Brett sighed deeply.

"Thank you Screamers. We thought you were dead. Where is Cade?" Luke's expression changed from gladness to sorrow in a heart beat, he watched as Brett dropped in posture his eyes staring at the floor.

"He fell and I had to leave him." The words were hard to say, almost choking to admit he had left his only surviving brother behind. "I tried to reach him but the monsters were too close, they would have gotten me if I stayed." A series of tears ran down his check and Luke wrapped his arms about him, sobbing into his friends shoulder the events of the night flooded back and the emotion was just over whelming.

"It's ok dude, Cade is one tough cookie, he's probably managed to find somewhere to hide out until morning. So lets worry about you, lets get that foot cleaned up and sorted." Luke had noticed the blood stained rag and knew it needed urgent attention. He managed to get his friend calm enough to sit him down and painfully peel the rag from his foot. "This is in bad shape mate, might just be easier to take the whole foot off." Luke looked up at his friend and the faintest of smiles began to creep onto his face. Seconds later they both were laughing quietly between themselves as Luke patched up Brett's foot. "Done. No more self harming." Luke got back to his feet and Brett nodded to agree. Taking the bloody rag, the swabs and needle he had used to clean and seal the wound, Luke placed them in a large metal bin then set them on fire. As he walked back toward Brett the door of the building burst open.

"Luke we have to move, like now." An almost identical match to Luke burst through the door, yet her body was far more shaped, and her long flowing red hair made her look ferocious. In her hand she held a rifle and on her back a long blade, Brett knew her instantly, Luke was not alone, he had brought Lacy to.

"Where are the others Lacy?" Questioned Luke as he stuffed everything he could back into his backpack.

"We've seen no sign of Cade, Hunter and Igor followed the west alleyways, Maverick, Courtney and Duke took the main street, while Giles and I took the east alleyway. There are almost thirty of them out there Luke. They took Giles." Closing the door she quickly reloaded her rifle, the look on her face said it all, she was not happy to be there which meant that they were here without orders, and Lacy would be in trouble when they returned home. "I'm glad to see your ok Brett but we must go, this place will be swarming with screamers soon." She peered out of the door only to be knocked backwards as more bodies piled into the building.

"Numbers have fallen, they seem to be heading back down the main street." A stocky but well kept lad slumped as he came to a halt near Luke, he was panting heavily while sweat was pouring from him. "MCD are bunkered down a few buildings away picking of a few strays. They gave us cover fire to break from the alley and get here." Taking a moment to catch his breath he turned to Brett and smiled "I told them you'd be ok."

Lacy grabbed him by the shoulder "Igor, tell me how many are still out there?" Her eyes were angry she wanted answers and she waned them now, another of her team was now in enemy hands and she waned to change that.

"Lucky guess, three maybe four at the moment, most of them have followed those carrying Giles back down the main street, is he a pureblood?" Igor now looked flustered, even the stocky build of Hunter had moved from the door to listen in.

"Yes, Giles is, like all of us here, a pureblood, which makes this even more dangerous. We cannot leave him or Cade in there with them, two purebloods in one night is not good, but at the same time losing ten of us will be catastrophic but we can't leave them behind. So gear up we take the fight to them."

Luke grabbed his own rifle and reloaded his clip then handed the weapon to Brett "You still remember how to use one of these?" He playfully asked his friend.

"Point the long end at the bad guy" he started then Luke joined in to finish off the quote "then pull the trigger until its dead." They passed smiles between them and Luke help Brett to his feet. "Let's go get Cade and Giles." Luke said before heading for the door.

Progress had indeed been slow, almost every step down had creaked under her weight but while it was slow going she had managed to get most of the way down without detection. Both her mind and her heart raced frantically as the last step bowed beneath her, as luck might have it there was no sound. Something was different about this situation, normally there would be watchers keeping an eye out for intruders but there had been none. It was as if they had all sulked away to be involved in what ever was going on, Salt stopped to think for a moment, then it hit her, she hoped she was wrong as if she was right and that the monsters were all preparing, that would mean their victim was a pureblood, and if it was Brett, that would mean Cade was likely to be a pureblood too. Things had suddenly escalated and she felt out of her depth, a ritual drinking would mean an entire hive of the creatures would be waiting for her, she felt her heart sink, this was suddenly useless and she needed to get back to Cade and get him out while they creatures were busy.

Taking a chance she moved up the stairs as quickly as possible, her blade was in one hand and the other she used to balance herself up the stairs. Once she got to the double doors she noticed a small shadow shift from one wall to another, Cade she thought, clearly he didn't listen to her, but this would make things easier. She pushed he doors open and started to run, she grabbed the shirt of Cade and dragged him back to the door of the safe room. Once she had stopped she glanced down and saw a stunned look on a lads face who was not Cade. She let go of the shirt in surprise.

"Who are you?" She asked through panted breath.

"Who am I? You just grabbed me and your asking who am I?" The lads tone was more shocked than commanding, he looked her over quickly, "Your not part of my team. Why are you here?" He got to his feet and dusted himself down then pulled the rifle from its holder he pointed it at her, his finger on the trigger.

"I live here and If you don't leave now then you put us all in trouble." She eyed the weapon, she hadn't seen one since she was a little girl but she knew all too well what it was for. "You said a team, where arethe rest of them?"

The lad stopped for a moment to consider answering. "There are eight of us, we came looking for two friends of ours, brothers by the names of Cade and Brett. Have you seen them?"

Before she could answer he fell through the door as it had been opened from the inside. With a surprised look on his face he looked up "Cade?"

"Hello Giles." Cade reached out his hand to help him from the floor. "What on earth are you doing here? Have you found Brett?" Cade wrapped his arms around his friend "I'm so glad to see you."

Salt rushed into the room and closed the door. "Right, Giles is it, start talking." After a short and some what rushed account of what had happened no one seemed any wiser as to what was going on.

"So you're telling me that Luke and Lacy are somewhere in the area looking for me and Brett, you managed to get caught and brought here, only to escape and wound who you think is their queen and no one is any wiser about Brett." Cade rubbed his head "I think I've got a headache coming on."

Salt looked at Cade then at Giles "So the scuffle I heard earlier was them carrying their wounded queen, that makes as much sense as them capturing a pureblood I suppose but that was my first thought. You are armed with several high explosives enough to bring this building down, we have a limited window before the queen is healed so we have to move now and find the others. So any bright ideas?" Salt had an idea but she wanted to know what they thought.

Giles smiled "We blow this place sky high and get the hell out of here."

Maverick stood over Duke as Courtney wrapped a wound on his leg. "You big baby, next time look before you leap." Maverick was one of the last people to have a solid accent of any kind, his family had tried to keep their Scottish heritage as strong as possible. "I tell you now little Duke next time you might not be so lucky." Duke smiled at his burly friend.

"At least I have Courtney's hands all over me." His chuckle made the others smile.

"Hold still you buffoon, otherwise this won't hold in place." Even trying to sound tough Courtney's voice was like a mouse, she hardly spoke at the best of times but she enjoyed ribbing Duke when ever the chance arose.

Just as the bandage was being fixed into place Lacy and the others turned the corner "Ah the cavalry have arrived." Joked Maverick as he lowered his gun.

Lacy ran up the alley "Everything ok?"

Courtney nodded "A minor scratch, he caught his leg on some razor wire, I've rubbed some anti-septic cream on the wound." Duke couldn't help but interrupt "Which felt really good." His smile however couldn't hide the pain as Courtney tightened the bandage. "Watch it."

"I'm now just wrapping it up ready to go." She added fixing the bandage in place finally."

As the other huddled around Brett was given several hugs and words of welcome, he looked around and for the first time remembered that his rifle was back with his rucksack where he had taken it off to rest a moment before he was forced to run for his life with Cade.

"We need to go back, If we hit them suddenly I don't think they'll expect it." Brett looked at each of them in turn. None of them had lost as much as he had, and the thought of losing Cade as well had started to become real. "If Cade and Giles are alive then we must act now."

No one said a word but their actions spoke volumes as they all double checked their weapons, shouldered their stuff and fell into formation ready to move out. Seconds later Lacy gave the order to move out.

Every corner or building they passed was handled with military precision, the group taking up four points of fire, one on the knee, the other standing tall behind them, then one off to each side able to over lap fire if needed. It had been a tactic that had seen them through impossible odds in the past, they trusted it, completely. The old hotel and supermarket came into view, still a little way off, enough to observe without intrusion. Luke took point and scanned the area through the scope of his rifle. "Looks all clear to meee..." his voice faded off in a confused tone as he watched three figures run from the buildings main doors. Before he could relay what he could see a mighty bang like a million grenades going off tore the silence apart, following the sound was the flash of yellow light, visible for miles around, then came the fire, ripping through the building like it was cinder wood. Everyone could now see the building burning, the explosion crashing through every level now ablaze in the night sky. The horrid, desperate cries of the creatures caught in the inferno was painful to endure. Luke turned to the others.

Without another word the group high tailed it down the street until they came as close as they could to the burning building. A few creatures danced in the fire light before they collapsed into the flames, the group looked on in surprise and horror as the building crumbled in on itself.

The plan was simple, Giles had four charge packs left however only one trigger, Cade had remembered that his rifle and backpack was left along side Brett's near the freezer isles of the store. Salt grabbed as much as she could in several of her own backpacks and handed the boys one each.

"Right Giles set the charges and make sure the trigger is on those double doors at the top of the stairs. Me and Cade will go and retrieve the rifles and sacks and meet you back here."

"Got it." He replied as he headed off to place the first charge, it needed to be against a main support he had told Salt who had directed him to the furthest of them, the idea would involve taking out three supports to cause the building to fall in on itself, a risky plan considering they would still be inside when the first charge goes off. He turned the last few corners and stumbled, looking back he could just make out the remains of a body. He stopped for a moment to look for anything he could salvage, then grabbing a few little items he placed them in his pocket and finally shouldered the rifle that was a few feet away from him. He carried on until he found the support then he quickly placed the charge and headed off toward the second support he needed to find.

Meanwhile Cade led Salt back down the gangway passing small abandoned shop units between the lower level supermarket and the hotel above. Brett had said to Cade that many of them would have been ransacked a long time ago and he mentioned it briefly to Salt, she agreed, knowing that many of them she had searched herself in the long years she had hidden in the building.

"Why have you never left?" Asked Cade at a whisper, to him she seemed too smart to willingly stay here without reason, maybe she hoped her parents would return.

"I don't know the world outside, here I know every room, hidden space, locked door, which areas of the building are not safe, this place has been my home for longer than I remember." Her smile tried to hide the pain but her eyes struggled to hold back her tears.

"I'm sorry." She looked at Cade after he apologised, she gave him a massive hug.

"You won't leave me will you?" Cade hugged her back for a minute then pulled away shaking his head.

"No I won't leave you, so let's get round these few last corners then we can get the hell out of here."

When they got back to the safe room Giles was already waiting. "We are set ready to go." A smile wide across his face."I managed to find all the support beams you directed me to, I've already placed the charge and the igniter on the double doors. All that's left now is for us to make some noise." The thrill and excitement of what they needed to do made his statement sound almost child like.

"Ok, but not here, we won't outrun the blast, we need to be at the gangway, if we use the broken section to climb up and make as much noise as we can there, we would have plenty of time to get out before the other charges blow." Salt grabbed Cade's arm. "Remember your promise." She said as she headed off first.

Cade followed closely behind while Giles stayed at the back, it only took a matter of minutes to reach the gangway, however their movements had not gone unnoticed.

In the kitchen area below them their activity was causing small parts of the ceiling to fall away, it had gone unnoticed for a short distance but when a section the size of a dinner plate fell onto the head of the injured queen the hive stirred to action. Their clawed hands dragging across the floor while their almost hoof like feet propelled them forward. Someone was in the building above them, some food unaware it's walked into their home, the hive collective thought for a moment about the pure blood that had wounded their queen, maybe it was still here, maybe it was trying to hunt them. However it was too late now, they knew it was there, they spread out like a plague leaving the kitchen through every tunnel they had created, a small group moved quickly for the stairs and ultimately the door.

Just as Salt reached the gangway the building shook, the explosion behind them shattered the remaining windows above them, dust and stone flew toward them as a rolling cloud of white rushed at them. "Run, get up there now!" she screamed.

Helping Cade grab hold of the upper supports she pushed his leg until he was safely on the gangway, he stayed crouched with his rifle in hand pointing it down the gangway he had been travelling earlier. For a moment he though it's come full circle, he had been here earlier in the same situation running for his life, this time however it wasn't his brother escaping with him, but two friends. His finger hit the trigger as a grey figure peered from the corner. "We got screamers up here."

Giles was climbing up and as soon as he was upright on the gangway his rifle opened fire into the shadows. Salt had Brett's rifle in her hand, as she slowly passed the bags up to Cade. The second explosion knocked them all to the ground and the screamers darted from the corner toward them, all three rifles burst to life cutting down the front few, the others slipped back into the shadows to wait. Fire was now roaring through the far side of the building the heat already intense and the smoke growing thicker. The race against time was well and truly over, the second of the three supports exploded sending stone everywhere. The sheer weight of the building was already causing it to collapse in on itself. Cade reached down his hand "It's now or never."

Salt took hold and between them managed to get her onto the gangway leaving two of the bags behind. They all got to their feet and ran for the door. As soon as their backs were turned the screamers rushed forward, thick dark smoke almost hid them from sight but Giles kept firing back under his shoulder hoping to slow them down. They reached the door and were down the front steps and across the road just in time as the building went up in a blaze of fire and the final charge went off and the building crumbled completely, as they stood catching their breaths eight figures charged into view and stood watching the building burn. Cade and Giles smiled, the plan had worked and now the team were back together and they could go home. They walked up behind their friends.

"Not bad for a few well placed Charge Packs don't you think." The group turned and as they did they were greeted with hugs and smiles from both Giles and Cade.

Cade hugged his brother "Did you miss me?"

"Like a hole in the head." Replied Brett as he looked at his brother "But how?" The puzzled look of bewilderment was priceless and Cade turned away from him.

"Guys this is Salt, Salt these are the Owls. We'll explain everything."


	4. Chapter 3

"Can someone please explain to me why the Owls are not responding to our radio calls?" The large stocky male well into his fifties hit the desk in front of him, the small radio mic fell over with the impact.

"Commander we believe the Owls are not responding due to an unauthorised exercise in to the heart of Cardiff Prime." The radio operator ducked to avoid the Commander's hand as he swung it toward his head.

"How did they pull this off? Those good for nothing upstarts have been nothing but trouble. Send Sgt Fields and the Hounds to bring them in, I think its time they had their wings clipped." His snarling smile was frightening and soon the whole of the command room were busy.

It wasn't the first time the Hounds had been called in to find the team of pure bloods, in fact the Commander had started keeping a record. The week before last one of the Hounds had been killed bringing them back from a jolly into the wetlands south east of Cardiff Prime. Days before that three Hounds were injured after an ambush atop of the Cardiff Valley Ridge. Several times the Hounds had spent days in the valley looking for them, and each time the Owls returned back with minimal injuries and since their formation over a year ago they were the only team to have not lost a member. The Commander didn't know if it was just blind luck or if something more sinister was at work, he wasn't a god fearing man so them being blessed or chosen was not realistic.

Sgt Timothy Fields grabbed his radio when it crackled his name, his gut turned and he had a sense he knew what was coming.

"Field's here, where are they?" A faint northen accent could just be heard everytime he spoke, originally from Newcastle Prime he had been sent south with his family after the city fell. The radio cracked again the location of the Owls and with a heavy sigh he responded, "Understood, Hounds are on route." Dropping from his chair he thumped a big red button and the whole building went dark before the red flashing lights came on. Sgt Fields grabbed the internal microphone and his voice echoed out of every speaker. "Listen up, Our little birds have flown the coop again, this time into the city. I want two teams ready to go in five, expect trouble so grab the strike gear and bring the shield braces as well, we have no idea what we will be walking in to." When he was finished he placed the mic down and rubbed his head, "What are my kids up to now."

A few minutes later ten of his men stood to salute as he entered the bunker. "At ease fellas." The men dropped their arms, placed them behind their backs and stood awaiting instruction. "Right here is what we know, some time in the last four hours the Pure Bloods have gone on an unauthorised stroll into Cardiff Prime, we do not know why or what provisions they have taken, all we know is that ten of our youngest pure bloods are missing in enemy territory and it is once again our job to go and find them and bring them home safe. Most of you have been involved in bringing our little birds home before, you know the drill, those of you who are new to this, learn fast, this happens alot and we need everyone at the top of their game. That said we expect to encounter hostiles, of what size we can only guess but keep vigilant and make sure your weapons are armed and ready even before we disembark from the transport. So lets get moving." The Sgt walked off toward the transport shuttle code named the Kat, the twelve man shuttle would propel them at over two hundred miles an hour allowing them to disembark at the fringe of Cardiff Prime within fifteen minutes. The two teams boarded the Kat followed by Sgt Field as he shouldered his rucksack and then pulled the shuttle door closed and locked it in place.

The windowless bullet shaped shuttle came to a thundering hault as the pilot crackled over the radio that they had arrived at the City. In the distance the pilot could see a billowing black smoke plume and he grabbed the radio again to inform Sgt Fields.

"Sgt we have a large smoke plume near the city centre, I would advise caution."

Unshackeling himself the Sgt was first to his feet "Ok Nuke you take Dwane, Rosco, Berry and Raker, the rest of you with me. We have a point of interest so that is where we will converge, stay in cover as much as possible, conserve ammo where possible and do not let your guard down." He dropped the door and signalled for the teams to move out, once both teams were on the ground the radio in the back crackled to life again but the pilots words remained unheard. Just as the teams were about to move out a voice called out to them and they all stopped and stared.

"What took you so long? We've been waiting for over an hour." Luke lead the Owls from the nearest building with a huge smile on his face. "We expected you to bring two shuttles, how are you lot going to get back!"

His checky attitude was usually the first thing the Hounds encountered of the Owls, the Sgt hated hearing his voice, he heard it more than most, but when he had to wade in to rescue them it was just far more irritating.

"What the hell have you idiots been up to this time? And why is there a billowing smoke cloud coming from the town centre?" The Sgt looked at Luke then at Lacy who was a few paces behind her brother.

"Don't panic Dad, we simply destroyed a Screamers nest." Luke wrapped his arms around the Sgt then let go again "It's all good."

"Good... for the love of all things living, the Commander has been going out of his head trying to get hold of you all, all... and who's this..." the Sgt turned his attention to Salt who was walking between Cade and Lacy.

"Dad this is Salt, it's a long story but basically she rescued Cade, helped Giles and Cade escape and bring down the old Three Dragon's Hotel." Lacy hugged her old man instantly after explaining it "Sorry we didn't mean to worry you." She said letting him go again. "Cade and Brett went solo into the city, we went to find them and get them home, but there was a Screamers nest in the Hotel. To be honest we've had little action, Cade and Salt were in the thick of it, but we ran in to some of the screamers which is how Giles ended up with Cade and brought the building down." Before she could say any more her father walked off putting a little distance between them so he could think. Everyone waited then a moment later there was a massive ear piercing scream from within the city, everyone froze.

"Weapons Up, incoming hostiles, protect the little birds at all costs."

The rifles fired off volley after volley as the screamers scurried across the rooftop their high pitched cries shattering the fading night sky. Without orders the pilot turned the Kat around in order to shuttle the youngsters home."You lot get yourselves home now, we will hold on until the second shuttle arrives." The Sgt waved his men into formation.

Lacy grabbed Salt and pulled her toward the shuttle, Duke and Maverick followed quickly behind with the rest of the team using the leap frog formation to provide cover fire as they boarded the Kat. Once everyone was in side and strapped in, the shuttles thrusters roared to life and within seconds the Owls were heading home. The pilot had already requested a second shuttle which was already on route with an eta of ten miutes, with luck the Hounds could hold off that long.

Rosco and Nuke had taken up a position on a small ridge, laying flat Rosco relied on Nuke's directions to pick off targets with his Mk IV rifle, designed to be light weight and easy to use as both an assault and sniper option. His partial blindness was seen by others as a limitation, Fields however saw it as an obstacle that could be over come and in his four years of service in the Hounds, Rosco had the most sniper kills as well as the longest ranged kill seen in any team, an achievement the Sgt was always keen to boast about at gatherings.

Nuke relayed some directions which he followed with precision, the moment he pulled the trigger the gun clapped as the chamber emptied, the deep groan that followed was enough to tell him his shot hit its target.

"Another Screamer down." Confirmed Nuke, as he quickly eyed up another possible target. "Lets take down a few more shall we." He said before providing some more directions.

Sgt Fields and Cole had been running around laying traps in case the screamers decided to charge at them, it was odd behaviour for them to simply linger in sight, it was a though they were waiting for something. The cover fire was doing well enough to keep them at bay for the time being but it wouldn't last much longer, and the Hounds would be ripping through their ammo supplies.

"Sgt, can you feel that?" Cole called over to the team leader, the ground beneath him felt as though it was vibrating, the Sgt looked about and noticed small stones and dirt bouncing a few millimetres off the ground.

"Not good, Cole run..." shouted the Sgt not a moment too late as the ground where he had been standing exploded.

Into the air leaped a discoloured humanoid form with eyes white as snow, its teeth long and twisted, it also had short but thick claws, ideal for digging and when it landed it growled like a bear. Both men stood still, this was something altogether new, its body exploded into pieces as a yellow light tore through it. The smoke trail from the blast led back to Raker the sub-launcher smoking from just being fired, the black haired ex ross-ball player lifted his hand with his thumb up, Sgt Fields responded in kind.

The victory was short lived as more of these tunnelling creatures appeared, one right below Kendo, tossing him into the air as he fell his finger never left the trigger, his attacker broke his impact as he fell, its now dead carcass was like a well used mattress, but he was alive.

Still staying on top of the buildings the screamers seemed at odds with themselves, they seemed to want to attack but it now seemed like something was holding them back. No one had time to consider what that would mean, the other shuttle could now be heared and it was closing fast. Falling back a little to put space between them and these new threats, Sgt Fields and his team managed to bring several more of them down. Rosco continued to pick of screamers with Nukes help and as the shuttle came to a screeching hault the Screamers disappeared along with the other creatures, taking their dead with them.

"I've no idea what just happened lads, but I don't expect it to be the end of it." Waiting to climb in the Sgt looked back over the city, the cloud of smoke was still going, what if the Owls have stirred something they had never encountered, what if the screamers were not the only twisted horror in the world. What ever was going on the Commander needed to know and now. Once inside he secured the door, took his seat and used the short journey back to consider his options.

When the team arrived back the Owls were already receiving a mouthful from the Commander via Streamlink. Having no choice the Sgt stormed into the room.

"You lot out now." His order was clear and after their stunt they didn't want any extra trouble.

"I was just..." the Commander didn't have time to finish before the Sgt interrupted.

"I'm sorry Commander but this is urgent. What ever happened out there today may have been a good thing." About to interrupt himself the Commander was spoken over as the Sgt continued "I am not condoning what they did, but we have just witnessed a new creature, something very different from the Screamers. What if there are more monsters lurking in the dark than what we know." His voice was both authoritative and concerned and the Commander waited a moment to reply.

"Send me a report as soon as possible, I'll take a look and consider our options then. In the mean time keep those little birds grounded. Also if you can spare them send a team to observe the city, keep an eye on what's going on, if we have new or unknown threats we need to know about them." He paused for a moment. " And Timothy keep those kids of yours in line, we can't afford to lose them."

The screen went black and the Sgt was left in the room on his own. He pondered what his next move would be, he would send the report, that much he knew, but to recon the city, that was no small venture. Yet it was an order, and with what happened today he wanted answers, suddenly he had an idea where to start.

Ten minutes later he walked into the Nest, the Owls own little headquarters on the north side of the Hounds complex. It was once a store bunker until the Commander gave the order for it to be used as a bargaining tool to keep the Pure Bloods from causing any more hassle, or so he had thought at the time. Sgt Fields appearance was not unexpected so the Owls were prepared. Lacy and Luke stood at the front of the group, their eyes fixed on the man they looked up to as both a father and soldier. Before any of the youngsters could start recalling their actions he spoke firmly no hesitation or weakness, the Owls listened without a word.

"What ever your excuses are I don't care, the Commander has had his say, now it's my turn. You are lucky and I mean very very lucky to be standing here and not being picked apart by those screamers. More importantly you did not witness what I just did. Your actions may have just given us the first glimpse of things we have never seen or know anything about. I have to send a report to the Commander and explain why my team are lucky to be home in one piece despite going toe to toe with an enemy we have never seen. I have been ordered to keep you on lockdown, which is exactly what I plan to do. The Hounds however will not be here to watch over you, as I will be taking all of my boys into the City to gather whatever information I can. While I am gone you all will remain here, disobeying me this time will result in the dispanding of the Owls. Do I make my self clear?"

The only sound in the room was Gile's neck clicking as they all nodded in agreement. Lacy stepped forward.

"Sgt, can we assist in anyway before you leave?" It was a bold move but she hoped that their insight into the cities layout might prove useful.

"No, we will do a sweep of the area before we deploy, what you can do is stop and consider what the Owls are about. You were given the right to form in order to protect yourselves, not go looking for trouble. Any more hassle from you the Commander will pull the plug. It's up to you." Without another word he left the room and the pure bloods relaxed.

"What do you think they saw?" Asked Luke as the began talking about it.

"I don't know but we are going to find out." Lacy had that look in her eye, she had no intention of staying put and with no Hounds to stop them then they would take the spare shuttle and recon the city themselves. This is what the Owls were about, being the front line and not being afraid of it, the pure bloods might be mankinds last hope, but what hope are they if they don't know the world they have to deal with, they would leave soon.

As their commanding officer Timothy hoped his children would listen to his orders but as a father he knew that they would take the spare shuttle, he could disable it and keep them in the base, or they would simply find another way. In fact Duke could probably repair anything he could do to take the shuttle off line. Despite the Commander's concerns the Owls had been receiving the best training the Hounds had to offer, they were almost as good as he Hounds themselves. If it wasn't for the fact that they were all pureblood they would all already be enrolled in the Hounds. They all showed spirit and determination in the training yards and if they applied even half of that out in the field then they would be a formidable team, even their four point fire formation had been used in training the Hounds as the Owls could never be shifted from a position once they put that in place, it had been Lacy who had worked hard to keep them in line.

Timothy stopped and thought of his wife for a moment, Lacy was every part her daughter and it scared him, he could not lose his kids like he lost his wife, it was a pain he could never overcome and he feared that day would be sooner rather than later. His hands were tied, all he could do is protect them as much as possible, he grabbed the mic and his voice boomed across the base.

"All Hounds report to the shuttle bunker." He cleared his throat then continued "Grab all specialist gear and assault kits, we are on recon in the city, phase armour preferred, we move out in ten minutes." His voice ended with a crackle as he placed the mic down. What ever hell he was about to walk into he felt assured that the Owls would follow, he had made up his mind, now he needed to get it sorted.

Cade sat with Salt near the east window while the others watched as the Hounds hurried around the base. There was no discussion on what was going to happen. Lacy always knew what everyone wanted to do without asking, no one wanted to sit this out so she had already planned what they would be doing.

"Are you sure you want to go back?" Cade looked at Salt as he asked a question he thought needed asking. Her shrug said it all, in his mind it had taken alot for her to leave in the first place and to now ask her to join them going back in was crazy.

"I don't have your training, I'll probably just get in the way, plus I don't know the city, we blew up the only place I had any knowledge of." She rested her head on Cades shoulder. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

"It's ok, I wouldn't want to go back in either if I was you, but like you said we have training so this is what we do, even if it gets us grounded. If you come with us I'll stay at your side, but it really is up to you."

Lacy watched from the opposite window, she had seen the connection between them and it reminder her of her own feelings, but as the team's leader she kept them hidden. Salt had explained alot to her on the way back, she had managed to survive ten years within the hotel on her own, Salt was stronger than she realised.

There was also something about her, something familiar but she could not put her finger on it. Her concentration was broken as Luke spoke up.

"And they're off." Lacy looked out of the window and saw four shuttles shoot off in a cloud of dust. Luke looked at her puzzled expression. "What's wrong? Second thoughts?" Luke moved closer.

"No, there are sixty Hounds, which means they need five shuttles for all of them, where is the other shuttle?"

As they collected their gear from their lockers everyone kept an eye out for any of the Hounds still lingering in the compound, it seemed too quiet, even if they had all left, something felt wrong, too easy. It made Bretts hair stand on end, Courtney stayed close to Duke while Maverick and Lacy lead them toward the shuttle bunker. Giles and Luke remained at the rear chatting in an almost whisper. Igor, Cade and Hunter were tasked with carrying the heavy equipment. Salt watched from the window as the others snaked down the path. In her stomach she could feel a knot and she wanted to go but at the same time she didn't, even leaving Cade was harder than she thought, they would be ok without her, she knew they would.

As Lacy got to the bunker she saw two shuttles ready to launch, but no sign of any of the Hounds yet, Maverick stepped into the bunker first, scanning it down the rifle barrel, checking every corner. The closest shuttle had its bay door wide open, and from it stepped the familiar figure of Sgt Fields.

"Took you guys long enough." He said mimicking his sons voice as best as he could. The shuttle he was on began to move forward slowly. The others piled into the bunker and watched their superior stretch out his arm toward the second shuttle. "It's all yours..." He said as the Owls own logo was slowly revealed on the side of the shuttle. "Keep up and follow my orders and you can join us, otherwise stay here." He stepped inside the shuttle and pulled the door shut then the shuttle shot off.

"Well I think he wants us to follow him." Said a small voice from the door way. Salt stood there with some spare gear she had managed to grab on the way down.

"I don't need asking twice." Duke darted for the shuttle. "I'll get her ready to go, get in and strap up, we got some shuttles to catch up with.

Nothing else needed to be said as he others rushed forward. In minutes the Owls were once again racing along in a shuttle, this time toward the trouble, just where they liked to be.


	5. Chapter 4

The worst thing about travelling by shuttle is that there are no windows in the rear cab, the white Photo-plastic was designed to absorb the suns heat and transfer it to the battery and the engines, but with the sun rising the temperature in the shuttle was getting unbareable. What made things worse was the armour, it was clingy and its ventilation was poor in open spaces let alone in a confined shell. None the less the baking journey was almost over.

"Slowing down now, the others are waiting for us." Duke informed the others over the radio. "Looks like Lacy was right, all sixty Hounds are on the ground, armed and ready to go." The radio splattered then fell silent. Duke quickly navigated the shuttle to turn around and brought it to a stop behind the other shuttles, it was a tactical position allowing them to get away quickly and easily if it was needed.

Lacy unclipped herself and shouldered her gear followed by the rest of the team. She turned the lock on the door and the door dropped away revealing her father stood waiting in his full gear.

"I hope I don't live to regret this my girl." He stretched out his arm and helped her down the ramp.

"You won't." She smiled. The rest of the team fell into line and the Sgt noticed Salt all geared up and looking ready for trouble.

"Looks good on you Salt, when we get back we'll see if you can stay in the Owls, or if you join the ranks of the Hounds." He smiled then walked away.

Salt turned to Cade "What does he mean?" Her confusion was clear.

"He'll make you take a blood test, see what your S Count is, if its Zero then your a Pure Blood, otherwise you'll be assigned to the Hounds." He padded her shoulder. "Whatever the case, I'll still be here." She smiled at the warmth of his words then he walked off to talk with Brick, one of the Hounds heavy weapon specialists.

After a short but very direct mission brief Sgt Fields sent four teams of five into the city, they were each given a section of the city to investigate and orders to stay in regular radio contact. Remaining with his own team the Sgt turned to the Owls.

"I want you lot to stay with me, we are going to investigate the area around the hotel, to try and see what damage you have caused and what trouble you have stirred up."

It wasn't too long before they reached the hotel, the regular radio contact from the other teams were coming back clear. It was as though every single monster in the city simply vanished. A worrying notion crossed the Sgts mind, what if they are in the city's hydro-thermal network, it would explain how they move around so quickly, vanish almost instantly. He grabbed his radio mic.

"All Teams locate and secure any HT hatches we are coming up empty so they must be using the vent network under the city." His radio crackled as the teams acknowledged the order. "I want you lot to stay here, set up a spot to defend but stay out of sight as much as possible. Let us know of any trouble heading our way." He looked at each of the Owls then signalled his men to follow him. What worried him the most was not leaving the pure bloods, but going into the heart of the city, it reminded him of his last mission in Newcastle.

He wasn't a Sgt then, just a simple Soldier, a Newcastle Jackal and his team were amazingly good at what they did. Known as the Jackal Five Timothy Fields, Simon Riskover, Carl Hedges, Wayne Black and the lovely Catherine Fields, were without doubt the best Strike Team in the Jackal Unit as well as the only five member team, which was were their team name came from. But on this day things went horribly wrong and only a handful of the Jackals made it out alive.

It had began like a normal day, the twins woke for their feed about four thirty and Catherine rolled out of bed to feed them. Timothy stirred at the sound of them crying and quickly got dressed before picking the adorable little bundle of arms and legs that was Luke. Catherine returned with two bottles handing one to her husband she then picked Lacy from her blankets and placed the bottle of milk in her mouth, Timothy on the other hand was struggling to get Luke to take the bottle, when he finally did, it was gone in no time. With the twins fed and sleeping again Catherine got dressed and sat with Timothy in the kitchenette. They had both been serving in the Jackals for almost ten years, they started out hating each over but with time that changed and with two miscarriages already they had finally got the little family they had wanted. Under normal circumstances marriage was regulated to improve the odds of Pure Bloods being born, but Catherine herself was born a pure blood. Even when she had the twins her S blood count was less than fifteen percent which was amazing considering the blood transplants she had after the second miscarriage. As luck would have it both children were born pure, a blessing they thought that would keep them safe forever. They had both semi-retired from active service, placing them on the only under extreme situations would they be called in, it hadn't happened in months, the twins were now almost a year old and things had really started to feel great. That was until the base went dark and the red warning lights started flashing.

"This is a Code Three, All Serving Personnel report to the Shuttle Bunker for briefing." After hearing the call over the speaker they relaxed, they only had to respond on a Code Five and they were rare. The lights came back on so they continued eating their breakfast before getting on with the rest of their day. The worst part of breakfast was the tidying up however as they were just finishing up the lights went out again and the red lights flashed again followed by the voice over the speaker

"This is a Code Four Warning, will all on leave Personnel please report to the Shuttle Bunker for briefing." The speaker went silent and the lights came back on. The Fields looked at each other with concern, an escalation that quick was very rare, they rushed to the window to look out over the base, armed personnel rushed about and several shuttles were launched from the bunker toward the city. Timothy rubbed his head and turned to his wife "What ever is going on it's big."

Carl Hedges burst into the Fields home, his face was flushed and his breathing was heavy. "Tim... Cath..." he started trying to speak while catching his breath. "Code Five... Warning... will be... issued." He finished placing his hands on his knees and taking in several large deep breaths. He looked up at his friends mustering the energy to speak. "The City, it's been over run. They are evacuating everyone and they need all military personnel on the ground. That includes us." His words ripped through them, they both had family and good friends in the city, they could not sit back and do nothing, they would have to leave the twins with a minder, it was time to rejoin the fight. Hedges looked at Timothy and they both nodded, Catherine rushed to the bedroom to make sure the kids were safe and to call in a minder. The lights went out and the red warning lights started again followed by the voice from the speaker "This is Not a Drill, This is a Code Five Call... Will all Military Personnel please report to the Shuttle Bunker for briefing." Again the voice disappeared and the lights came back on. Timothy watched as his wife returned from the bedroom "Time to Go then."

Newcastle Prime was an eleven minute Shuttle ride from the base, it had been a long time since the Jackal Five had made that journey and these eleven minutes seemed to go on forever. When the shuttle slowed to a hault they quickly disembarked and joined the others who were receiving orders and rushing off into the city. The Sgt of the Jackals watched as they walked toward him, that look of concern etched over his face.

"If it was up to me I would not have called you in. The Commander wants this place clear and quick." He extended his hand to greet Timothy the teams leader.

"I know Sir, but while we are here, we will do what we have to." A lot of respect had passed between these two men over their years of service. They had both entered the Jackals together, at one time served in the same team, Mason Gibbs had been elevated to Sgt on one merit, he was good with people and got the most out of them, Fields had been given a team as he was ruthless, tactical, an able leader who demanded respect, he would have made a great Sgt but his skills were better served on the ground.

"What's the situation? Hedges told me he city is under E-Vac, are we talking incursion or infestation? Possible numbers... any known hide outs?" The Sgt looked at his friend as he asked all the right questions.

"It's like you were never away my friend, however it looks like we are talking infestation, I wish I knew numbers but I can't even chance a guess there are that many. We have found no ground level hives, all intel suggests that they have striking from the Hydro-Thermal vents below the city. It is rather clammy down their Tim, hundreds upon hundreds of miles of intersecting tunnels and hubsm it is like a maze but without the fun, I've ordered the use of close proximity pistols on his, our rifles will just tear through the fibre of the tunnels, that means..."

Timothy cut in. "It's up close and personal, our preferred tactic of choice."

The Sgt nodded glumly. "I hope for the twins you guys make it out come hell or high water, it's always been an honour serving with you Tim, as a team you are all the best, go give them hell." The Sgt saluted them then walked off to give another team their orders.

"You heard him, CPs at the ready, we'll go in through the forth vent, two up in the east section, whatever happens stay close and lets get out of here in one piece."

Unsurprisingly the Sgt had been right, the vents were clammy, they had a heat that enveloped you rather than just warmed you, it was almost choking. Even the air vapor seemed heavy, as though tainted with some kind of unseen illness. They had been underground for five minutes or so with no sign of anything and it felt creepy, unsettling that was until they heard the first cry then the horror of it all sank in. Takin hold of the radio, Black's heart sank "Guys we have no radio." The others looked at him, this was the last hing they needed, no radio meant no help, something the team were familiar with but now, when it mattered the most, they were on their own.

"Riskover and Black take point, Catherine you stay centre guard, Hedges and I will take the rear guard, clear each junction as we cross them, Hedges you lay sleepers, remember keep the blinkers at eye level, we don't need the hassle of explaining any friendly deaths to the Sgt." The team moved in formation 'the gridlock' as they called it, at all times having at least two weapons able to fire in any direction, it was a strong set up, one that had kept them alive more than once. At every intersection the team squared up closing position to allow them to stay closer together and once the junction was clear Hedges placed a long explosive charge below and above each access tunnel to the junction then placed a trip trigger in the middle of the junction. Every howling cry they heard slowed them down but even this hadn't stopped them making good ground. However there was still no sign of the creatures and the longer they took to be seen the more of them they would have to face. It wasn't too long after, just as Hedges finished placing another trap that they heard gun fire ahead of them, the distinct firing sound of the CP echoed dimly down the tunnel.

"Ahead, double time." Said Timothy as he heard a scream of agony rip right through him, finally some contact he thought and as he kept pace with the others he noticed something that had escaped his notice clearly for too long. They were not alone and the white glowing eyes peered straight at him from about half way up the sides of the tunnel walls. Realising far too late, they had walked into a trap. Without warning he opened fire as the creatures lunged forward, snarling and hissing like the frenzied animals they were. Hedges turned to see one of the creatures leap down off the roof of the tunnel five or so feet in front of him, without thought he simply opened fire. The others ran on to find another junction to take up position in but they hadn't found one, in fact the tunnel seemed to stretch on for ages. Hedges and Timothy kept pace, every now and then turning to engage their pursuers. The CPs seemed that have little effect, he knew it was against orders but they had no choice they would have to use their rifles. Their rifle fire exploded, at this close range ripping their targets apart but the noise was deafening and it echoed badly. Screams and Cries could suddenly be heared throughout the tunnel system, they had just rang the dinner bell and they were the main course.

Nothing was working, they had kept the creatures at bay but their numbers just kept growing, their eyes glowed from way down the vent on both sides of them, their rifles cutting down the few as the many lingered in the shadows. Help had tried to reach them but them getting through the horde was useless, they were simply ripped apart before they could make any sort of dent. Massive Explosions erupted down the way they had come, having no idea if friend or foe had set them off but the impact was felt everywhere. Shop floors had caved in, roads had collapsed, entire sections of the vent system had been destroyed all thatnks to Hedges. Holding off the creatures became harder, they needed to conserve their ammo as it was running low. Timothy had suggested collapsing one route to secure a flank it would be risky but it was an option. Out of nowhere Hedges was dragged through a rip in the vent, the others looked on in horror as the space beyond the vent was empty, it was a way out, dangerous but a way out.

Timothy was the first to slip through into the vast dark space, he expected it to run along the vent, a void between pipes and intersections, and if this one existed how many more did. Catherine was next, her rifle firing off a few shots before allowing Riskover through then instantly after Black, however the fortified frame of Black, his long blonde hair and brown eyes were dragged back into the vent before being torn apart as the creatures scrambled for him. The others looked on unable to do anything to help, they simply ran on into the dark. Flicking on their gun lights they discovered how truely vast this area they had stumbled upon was, their lights never reached one end or another, they had no sense of direction and what was worse was the lingering smell of decay. The floor was smooth, concrete by the look of it, cold and unforgiving normally but here it was strangely warm and a red moss like plant grew in patches, suddenly Riskover screamed and his cry faded quickly as his body was dragged into the shadows, he dropped his rifle and the light illuminated the gathering numbers of monsters creeping up on them. Timothy stumbled to the floor in panic as the creatures charged forward, Catherine stood her ground to allow her husband time to get back to his feet, he lifted his rifle and between them they brought down a few, but the gap was closing and they had to run.

Timothy stayed behind his wife stopping now and then to fire off a few rounds of ammo, then turning back he quickly caught up with his wife as she just continued to run, stopping again to fire upon the creatures closing in on them he pulled the trigger and nothing happened, he had run his ammo to nothing as he turned to catch Catherine up and take her rifle his world was literally torn apart.

From out of the blackness a monster lept knocking Catherine to the floor no more than twenty or maybe twenty five feet from him, her eyes wide from the horror, she screamed but Timothy watched in disbelief hearing nothing but his own heart beat pounding in his ear. The monster tore her lower jaw clean off as she lay trying to reach out for her rifle, Timothy rushed forward to help but it was now too late the creature had driven its clawed hand through her chest to rip her heart from it, her body convulsed and the blood from her jaw spat down her body and through her lovely hair, her eyes turned milky white and then it all stopped, Timothy fell to the floor as other creatures raced passed him, ripping limbs and flesh from her like she was nothing. His heart broken, tears in his eyes but he made no sound, just watched in an eerie silence all of his own before passing out.

Looking now at the reckage of the old hotel in Cardiff Prime Sgt Fields turned to his men "Be prepared, we are going to be entering hell."


	6. Chapter 5

Hell, what would they know about hell really. To most of them hell was spending more than an hour at the base with the Uplink System down, the information highway, the global network that had once been called the internet. Maybe to some it was the loss of a loved one, or a child, hell a word that would no doubt be redefined for each of them by the end of the day thought Sgt Fields as he listened to his men relaying commands to the other teams before they went below ground into total radio silence. However he knew he couldn't make the same mistakes again, every Hound carried with them a thudder, a small hand device that produced either a short sharp or long heavy sound able to travel over a mile using vibrations, ideal for communication in radio black zones, and all Hounds were taught morse code as part of their basic training and today it might just save some lives.

"Times ticking, we need to drop and get things moving otherwise we will lose alot of our advantages." Looking at the Owls the Sgt considered how best to use their skills, he didn't want hem in the tunnels below, but as Giles had shown a fondness of blowing things up his could be used to their advantage. "Little Birds, change of plan. I got something for you to do and I think you're going to like it." After explaining in detail what he wanted done he took his team down into the vents leaving the youngsters to get on with their task.

Once the Sgt had left the Owls gathered to discuss what they needed to do, Luke had a gleam in his eye that meant trouble, probably more than his father intended but it was now too late.

"Just confirm what he wants up to do, I really think I misheard him." Giles shrugged looking rather puzzled.

"He wants us to literally blow a trench right through the city." Lacy stepped forward looking down the main street. "We are in the centre of the city anyway, if we focus the blast here, then set progressively reducing charges down this street in both directions we can pull it off quickly and help get the Hounds home sooner." Within the few minutes since her father had left them she had already worked out what they were going to do, if it failed it was on her, if it succeeds then everyone wins. However there was an issue with the plan, they didn't have enough charges between them to pull it off. Each of them carried two charges except Giles who would never leave the Nest without at least six charges, his reason, it made him feel safe. None the less they still needed more... a lot more.

Cade walked over to the building directly opposite the old hotel, it was a mess, glass and splintered wood everywhere inside, scorch marks up the wall and a thick layer of ash and dust covered everything. It was one of the few buildings he had seen in such a bad way, most had been ransacked but left intact, it gave him an idea. Looking about in the rubble he searched for something to collect the glass into, he would need to collect as much of the glass as he could find, not only here but right across the city, they may not have the power to bring the ground crashing down but that didn't mean they couldn't make it rain. When Cade found a small tub and filled it with glass he returned to the group who were still talking about the trench. He shook the tub and the glass rattled in side, everyone looked questioningly at the tub then at Cade.

"It's rather simple really, but it will be dangerous." His smile was almost sinister which made Luke shiver with concern "The Hounds can't fight them all down there, lets lure some of them up here, catch them off guard with traps within traps." Lacy looked at him, he shook the tub again and she smiled, whatever he was planning was as likely to work as anything else.

"Lets do it." She said finally.

Moving as quickly as they could the Owls collected as much glass, nails, wood splinters as they find for Cade's idea, at face value the plan was unquestionably bonkers, yet as he was explaining it the idea gained merit, he was right about one thing, it was going to be dangerous, some would even say suicidal at best, yet it was a plan, and one that didn't put the Hounds in any more danger than they already where. So it was all go, in teams of three they collected what they needed, except for Cade and Giles who had stayed behind preparing the area. Piling what ever rock and stone they could find and move, they placed it all in a rising cicle, forming a bunker over one of the vent access points. Around the bunker Giles had carefully place his charges as well as Cade's and Lacy's, when the others return he would empty their shrapnel over the charges. This part of the plan was solid, when triggered he charges would throw the shrapnel forward while at the same time sealing the vent they would use to get away. The second ring of charges would detonate at the same time blasting their own piles of glass and other sharp objects on all directions, hopefully the area will be over run with screamers, otherwise the whole plan was useless, the Owls themselves would be the bait, a group of pure bloods should be enough to get them out in the open.

Everyone knew it was risky, yet it did not stop any of them from mucking in to get it all sorted. Hunter, Duke and Igor had decided to search through the old hotel, it would be littered with what they needed and it was rather close by, between them they could carry large amounts quickly making more than enough trips in a shorter time.

Lacy, Courtney and Salt had taken the main street shop windows, they focused mainly of gathering glass, it was small, light and would make a horrible mess which was exactly what they were after.

Luke, Brett and Maverick used their backpacks to fill and carry as much glass, nails and other pointed objects they could find, the teams came and went as Cade and Giles worked the area, laying the shrapnel to get the best outcome. The light was quickly fading and time was running out, they had seen no sign of the Hounds since they started, they just hoped they were not too late.

The vent systems had been too quiet, even after an hour there had been no sign of the creatures, it was as if they had just vanished, but looking at his team over his shoulder he knew that was not the case. All of the regular updates from the other teams came back clear, it was eerie and everyone felt on edge. A horde would not simply disappear. He was in part glad that nothing had happened so far, it meant the Owls were safe above them, that at least put the Sgt at ease a little. It wasn't until he turned a corner and looked down a long tunnel section that those few minutes back in the bowels of his home city that he suddenly understood. He signalled his men to hault, they drew their weapons and took formation instinctively, each was armed with their rifle, lessons had been learnt and the Sgt was keen to prove it. He waved Mason to his side and when he stopped asked him if he had brought his knife with him, the three hundred and twenty pound, six foot four specialist nodded, he never left home without it. Giving him an order the Sgt watched as he quickly but quietly made his way down the long tunnel. The Sgt turned his attention to his remaining team.

"Right lads, this involves a certain amount of skill and precision, I've ordered Mason to cut open the left hand side of the tunnel, we are going to follow him in three teams so get ready." Timothy Fields explained his plan and divided the nine of them into three teams of three and prepared them for action.

As the first team ran their boots sounding off on the base on the tunnels caused movement within the dark void between the Hydro-Thermal Tunnels off to their left. One by one they pulled the release pin of their flash grenades and threw them through the torn side of the tunnel, one by one they leap frogged each other as they went, the faint flash of light appearing now and then through the tunnel side.

The second team followed a little under twenty seconds later enough time for the team in front to throw the grenades and have them go off, team two without looking too much fired indiscriminately through the tunnel wall into the void, the gun fire echoed down the tunnels as a mass of explosive claps, their position had been compromised but they were not going to linger.

Team three led by Sgt Fields had readied their night vision visors and followed behind taking their time to survey the scene behind the tunnel wall picking off any creatures still lingering, further ahead they could see more grenades flash and gun fire stun and mow down groups of the screamers as they scurried around confused and caught off guard. The plan was working and the horde scurried away deeper into the darkness, however their gun fire would still bring others, it was time to change tactics.

Sgt Fields and his men rushed on down the pipeline until they found a junction above the junction was a vent hatch, "Time to go." He said looking at the hatch, Jonas pulled out his morse code stummer and began sending the signal, the letters RGT vibrated through the tunnels, and each group who heard it passed it on. As soon as the Team was above ground the Sgt realised how much time had passed, more than he realised, his move to regroup his troops might not have been the best idea now. However he was committed to the action, the Hounds in his own team quickly reloaded before the Sgt sent up a flare.

He had half expected the Owls to have fulfilled their mission by now, something must have gone wrong, fearing for them he turned to his men "Stay here and wait for the other teams, when everyone is here head to the old three dragons pub, something is wrong with the little birds I fear." His men nodded then hey took up positions to secure their position until the others showed up, they watched as Sgt Fields headed off on his own into the alley across from them.

Nothing was going to plan, most of the charges were set and Cade and Giles continued to worked as Maverick, Luke and Brett dealt with the few stray Screamers that had began to appear from the shadows. Only a few, but they weaved and stalked from alley to alley never staying still, refusing to approach directly, it was as if they were watching, gathering what information they could.

Meanwhile Duke turned sharply to face his pursuer unloading a volley of bullets, the Screamer cried out as it fell to the floor, its body wriggling as the pain took hold and it refused to die. Another appeared at the end of the alley and Duke decided to catch up with the others. Hunter and Igor were not far away, at the far end of the alley Duke turned left and was instantly pulled off his feet. Igor has his rifle trained down the alley as Hunter shifted to make space for his friend to fit behind the large trash bin. Not waiting Hunter knelt resting his rifle on a ridge of the bin allowin him to cover the other alley. Duke sat with his rifle, deciding it was best to wait and then support fire in which ever direction needed it. They waited a few moments and nothing, they began to feel at ease but the feeling was short lived as Duke felt a few small stones and dust cascade over him, knowing instantly what this meant he looked up, knowing what to expect, there looking down on them, their white soulless eyes peering hungering for blood, a knot tightened in his throat, there were to many to fight off.

The girls were not faring much better, maybe slightly better, Courtney had managed to grab a pretty solid position that was well covered, had no flanks and just enough room to manoeuvre the rifle. She was able to hold the screams back under a constant fail of fire which allowed Lacy to pick off a few as they frantically scurried about each other. Salt on the other hand was struggling with the rifles kickback so was tasked wih the roll of look out, and her head moved quickly one way then the next watching everywhere for any sign of more threats. Lacy and Courtney listened intently to her warning of income hostiles and from which direction.

"Incomeing Friendly!" She shouted the others stopped instantly, "Right hand alley!" She added before picking up her rifle, it was now or never, placing the rifle on a rock out crop she concentrated her fire down the right hand alley, the kick back ached her shoulder but there was a friendly out there, she couldn't just sit back and do nothing.

The gun fire echoed down the alleys, at first the Sgt couldn't decide which direction it was coming from, then as he advanced down one alley he realised the youngsters had been seperated, three groups he suspected, which meant more trouble than he hoped getting them back to safety. He weighed up his options, assist the nearest splinter or the furthest, it took him seconds to decide, the nearest would be better, the more of them there were the better. The sun was fading fast so he knew every decision matter and time was not on his side. Ahead the gun fire intensified, he was getting closer, faster than he expected, as he turned a corner he heard a faint shout it was one of the girls, most likely on look out, he gave it a seconds thought and concluded it was most likely to be Salt and if it was Salt, then who ever was with her needed help quickly. In the alley up a head he could make out a swarm of Screamers clawing over each other, he allowed his rifle to drop on its harness to his side as he drew his two pistols, the rifle would just cause more disarray he wanted to bring them down. Now running as fast as he could his pistols in the air he approached the group of Screamers with a thunder of gun shots.

From her location Salt watched the Sgt charge into the back of the screamers trying to get to Courtney. With each mighty clap of the pistols a screamers head exploded in a rain of blood and brains, one by one they suffered the same fate, dropping like flies under a swatter. Salt and Courtney continued to lay down a hail of bullets into those at the front of the group, seconds later the Sgt stood at the base of the building along side his daughter and her friend. Salt quickly joined them by which time Courtney had climbed free of her safe place and they were ready to leave.

Cade had stopped assisting Giles, instead he had to join the others in laying covering fire as the numbers of Screamer rose. It took a lot of fire power from the rifles to bring down a single creature and for every one that fell it felt like three took its place.

"Giles we are seriously running out of time mate," shouted Maverick as he dropped an empty magazine from the rifle and clipped a fully loaded one in. "And Ammo!" He added pulling the trigger and peppering a group of snarling monsters as they charged forward.

"We need a few more minutes, I've got one more charge to fuse then we are ready to go." His confidence was not reassuring the others, he had already had to go back and rewire the charges twice, they hoped that this time he had it sorted, if not the plan for what it was worth would be pointless.

For what seemed like a life time Hunter, Igor and Duke had been doing nothing but shooting Screamers off the walls above them, those that hadn't died scurried away only to be replaced by others, wave after wave they spewed over the edges of the rooftops. Igor shifted as he thought he could hear more gun fire, as he turned he spotted four figures running up the alley guns ablaze. Nudging Hunter then Duke he pointed down the alley. They stood up rifles still roaring as they backed out from behind the trash bin, he others were at their side in seconds, the Sgt signalled them to move, they would have to try and out run them. As they were running a Green Flare shot into the sky, it was the others, the charges were ready.

"Hounds, this is Sgt Fields, when you see green smoke start moving toward it, the little birds have a plan in action. Do not approach until you hear from me, hold a battle line but do not advance, expect heavy rain." Replacing his radio he looked at his daughter, right thats that, now we have to find the others. They rushed off down the alley hearing more gun fire what they saw made their hearts sink as what looked like hundreds of screamers were rushing across the rooftops and down the side of the alley toward a rusty trash bin that seemed to be firing a large amount of ammo. As they approached they aimed for the creatures and moments later three figures moved from behind the bin. Not stopping to talk Sgt Fields signalled for the lads to start moving forward.

The run back to the old hotel was a short one, with screamers following close by the plan was working better than expected, they were leading them toward their own doom. As they rushed from the alley into the main street they could see the others atop of the bunker laying down fire to the growing numbers of the creatures that were now appearing from every possible location. Cade noticed them and tapped Giles on the shoulder, he quickly slipped away to activate the charges, Cade jumped into the bunker and down the ladder, Brett followed behind as Maverick and Luke continued to hold their position, the others cleared the first set of charges as Giles hit the count down, 10.

Lacy was first up into the bunker, 9.

Sgt Fields stopped beside Luke and joined them laying down hell, 8.

Salt and Igor were next up and into the bunker, Giles waited a moment incase he had to cut the countdown, 7.

Duke leaped up quickly tapping Maverick on the shoulder who turned to climb up as well, 6.

Giles moved from the trigger up to the bunker, he grabbed his rifle and began shooting the on coming horde, 5.

Hunter was last to the hill he watched as Sgt Fields climbed the bunker and disappeared, he went to follow and found his foot stuck, 4.

Giles quickly climbed the bunker then looking back noticed Hunter struggling so leaped down and ran to help him, 3.

Luke climbed he bunker calling out to Giles as he watched him trying to get Hunters foot free, Hunter tried to help but his boot was wedged tight, 2.

The others were now below the bunker running down the vents to the safe zone Cade had marked out earlier, they paniced as the other three were not behind them, they stopped to listen. With a final attempt to free his foot Hunter stumbled but his foot was free, seconds left they ran for the bunker, 1.

With no time to spare they reached the bunker, Luke grabbed and pulled Giles over and down, Hunter made it to the top as the first explosion sounded.


	7. Chapter 6

The series of explosions caused the ground to crack and shift, dust and stone filled the tunnels below as all manner of sharp objects tore through the mass of creatures that has stormed the bunker. Just out of blast range the Hounds managed to keep more of the creatures getting to the area, however it looked as though they didn't mind not getting closer, they lingered just within view snarling and hissing as often as they could, the occasional scream or howl would follow but few dared to venture forward. Waiting for news from the Sgt they held formation, the men and women of the Cardiff Hounds hoped that the almighty earth shift had not backfired. Each of them without voicing it hoped everyone made it out ok.

Dust and small stones fell from the ceiling as the Owls and the Sgt got back to their feet. They had been caught in the shift as they had stopped on the wrong side of the safe line. Picking themselves up one by one they looked around.

"Roll Call...!" Shouted Lacy as she patted dust off Maverick's shoulders.

Everyone called out thier names, Lacy ticked them off in her head. Luke, Giles and Hunter were not with them, they would have to double back and find them, it would be dangerous as the tunnels could cave in at any point. Turning to her father she looked for anything to help her make the decision she needed to make. Timothy simply looked at her, his son was missing, he couldn't think straight.

Igor pointed down the tunnel and through the dust a few shadows could be seen. Lacy rushed forward and as the shadows drew closer it was clear there were only two of them. Everyone's hearts sank, but who was missing it was hard to make out. Lacy spotted Giles being supported by Luke arms over shoulders, she cried half of relief and the other pain, Hunter had been a good guy, she dropped to help Luke carry Giles, it was only then she noticed Giles was missing most of his left leg, she looked at them both, tears had been streaming down their faces, the tears had left tracks through all of the dust on their faces. Turning to Luke she looked at him questioningly.

"He only made it to the top, he trapped his leg, Giles and I only just made it in." His eyes lowered to the floor, in the dim light she could make out smears of blood, cuts and a few glistening shards of glass left in their armour. As they approached the others Timothy ran to his son and took his place holding up Giles.

"I'm so glad your both ok. Hunter?"

Luke shook his head, his eyes began to fill with tears again, he wiped them away with what was left of his jacket sleeve.

"We need to get back top side, the Hounds will be waiting for us, the next vent should be a little way up a head." Knowing his son was ok the Sgt regained his posture and focus, they were still a long way from safe.

The Owls and the Sgt made it to the vent without crossing the path of any creatures, which they were very thankful for, Sgt Fields was going first up the ladder, secure the area and then help Giles up, as he went to lift the vent it was pulled open from above and a hand lowered to help him up.

"We thought you might need a hand." Nuke smiled as his friend and leader helped him up.

"We have one bird injured, one fatal." He looked about and the entire outfit was looking on, the sadness flashed in their eyes, a loss no matter who, was always hard on the team.

Bridget stepped forward to reach a hand down to help the next up "Who have we lost?" She asked, it was he question asked as though they had suffered a loss of a Hound.

Sgt Fields looked to the sky then at those around him again. "Hunter." Even among the Hounds each of the Owls was seen as an equal and the loss would not be any less painful. "Giles has lost the majority of his left leg, he won't be continuing Combat Actions." It was a harsh blow and everyone felt the sting.

A hand grabbed hold of Bridgets and she helped Salt up through the vent cover, she was quickly followed by Cade, who reached back to help Brett get Giles up and through. Everyone else followed quickly not wanting to linger too long within the tunnels, cries had began to echo as the real nest began to stir, they all needed to get clear of the city and fast.

Once all of the Owls were back above ground it was time to head back, the night was darkening and there had been no sign of these new threats, the Sgt was glad of this, yet he knew there was still more than enough time for that to change. The whole thing seemed curious, the Screamers were acting oddly, maybe it had something to do with their queen, maybe her wounds had been fatal, maybe they were just angry, or maybe they were just being the monsters they are. Whatever the reasons it set Sgt Fields very much on edge, there was more going on here than they knew, but they still had no way of finding out what was going on.

Deep long howls rose across the city, very different to those of the screamers, they seemed more wolf like, just as eerie, just as unnerving. Everyone raised their rifles and walked in a close knit formation with the Owls safely in the middle, the Sgt didn't want to take any risks but as the howls grew getting out unnoticed would now be impossible. Stopping to take a moment to think Sgt Fields decided to send on a team to safe guard a route through the city, they also needed to check on the shuttles, they had been left too long unattended. Nuke, Blitzer, Cannon and Phelps took the scout role, they would be down through the city in no time, Blitzer could check over the shuttles and get them started while the others held any hostiles at bay. Or so the Sgt hoped, the rest lingered to allow the scout team time to do what they needed, taking stock of their ammo it was starkly clear to the Owls that they were running low, the Hounds on the other hand were still fairly well stocked. Sgt Fields ordered for ammo to be distributed to the Owls incase they needed it, however he warned that the youngses would engage only if unavoidable. The events of the day had not panned out as expected every step forward was now important to both teams.

Cannon looked down the scope of his rifle into an alley he was determined had hostiles moving toward them, but he strained himself to triple check, there was nothing and he felt very uneasy. Blitzer on the other hand strolled with his rifle hung at his hip, his care free attitude was a stark contrast to the rest of the teams resolve while in the field, it was his quick eye and even faster reaction that made him dangerous, turning on a whim from unaware to ruthless faster than you could blink. Both men walked ahead of Nuke and Phelps, it was these situations that made Nuke uneasy, not walking into a city Infested with creatures that want to kill him, but doing so at the side of a Woman, he wasn't sexist in anyway, he fully supported women in the ranks, but always felt uneasy working beside them, Phelps smiled as she nodded forward, Cannon had tucked himself up on a corner with his rifle up. Phelps raised her rifle and took a knee steadying the rifle providing a position of over lapping fire if anything appeared from the alley. Nuke grabbed his thermal visor to check for cold movement within the alley, his gulp was almost loud enough to hear, the alley was crawling with movement. Looking at Cannon the team leaded nodded fast, it was the common signal for large hostile numbers, Cannon grabbed his charges and placed one right on the corner under his foot, the other he gave an almight push to slide it across to the other corner of the alley falling a foot or so short, he quickly rigged the trigger to blow in five seconds, it would be just enough time to clear the area. The trigger dropped the the four of them sprinted as fast as they could counting down in their heads, darting right down another alley they heard the charges explode and the yelps of dozens of creatures as the blast tore through them. They hadn't bothered looking back at all, Nuke however wanted to see what they were, there had been far too many of them to be screamers, something new altogether he suspected.

A cloud of smoke and fire exploded within the city, Cade looked on as the flames licked at the night sky. Sgt Fields turned to the group "Time to move." They had waited a few minutes more than he wanted to, it wasn't out of choice as Giles bandages had soaked through and needed to be tended to again. There had been no conversation while they waited, everyone's mood was too somber and they just wanted to process what was going on. At the Sgts orders everyone got to their feet and started moving toward the explosion they couldn't go any other way, time was running out. A sudden chorus of howls filled the air again, this time seemingly closer than the last. Not knowing what could be hunting them had the entire group on edge, constant head turns, double checking every shadow and corner.

Then a heart sinking howl boomed down the street from behind them, the group stopped dead, everyone turned to see what had made the godawful noise, now seeing it they wished they hadn't, it was huge, the size of an elephant, all pale wrinkled flesh, bones protruding from its spine like rock sized lumps. Its back legs were bent like an animal stalking prey, its front legs or arms it was hard to tell, allowed it to lift its chest to let off another howl. Its teeth sharp like small knives, eyes as white as snow, like those of the screamers, its ears elongated and narrow, it looked like it was made of pure muscle, the Sgts only though was 'where the hell has that been hiding' before he let off a burst of fire, the others quickly joined in. The creatures hide was thick, the rifles barely making a dent. Realising the impending danger Sgt Fields gave the order to run.

Despite its size the creature was fast, able to run and leap with ease, its size also meant that it had a hard time weaving through the alleys, which was the only thing keeping the team alive. Another howl sounded off in the distance, there were now two of them and it wasn't looking good. Turning another corner they came to the alley or at least what was left of it where the explosion had been. Nuke and his team were picking through the debris "We have got to go." Shouted the Sgt as he passed them with the others close behind.

Nuke grabbed a lifeless form from the rubble and then his team followed behind. The hulking mass of the creature clawed and rammed its way through the alleys after its prey, while more howls shattered the sky right across the city, two, four, seven, nine, the number of distinct howls grew, how could something this big and with these numbers gone unseen in the city. It seemed impossible that they knew nothing about these creatures, Screamers had been documented for years, slight mutations from place to place but they were still screamers. The building beside them exploded in a storm of rock as another creature appeared, its sheer size used like a battering ram through the walls. It head the size of small car snapped as it tried to grab one of the Hounds it had knocked to the floor, the fast thinking Hound grabbed one of her charges and threw it into the creatures jaw, she scrambled to her feet with some help and was away as he charge scattered the creature inside the building and across the alley.

The edge of the city was in sight and a sigh of relief could be heard from the group, the creatures were still in pursuit but the howling had dropped away, fewer and further, the Sgt hoped this was a good sign, moments later they passed the edge of the city, they had undershot their desired location due to being chased, they would have to skirt around the city a little to get back to he shuttles. Screamers began to appear on the roof tops of the buildings but again would not venture beyond, their cries and groans filled the night air almost like a chat, and Sgt Fields remembered from last time what happened. They moved as quickly as they could Giles was barely staying awake, if they didn't hurry up he would not make it. In the distance the group heard a series of explosions which escalated to one large one before a billow of drak grey smoke rose ahead of them. Everyone stopped again, if they thought their hearts couldn't sink any lower they were wrong. "Miller, Phelps take a look and please tell me thats not what I think it is." Timothy found his resolve was quickly fading, he didn't know how much more his team or himself could take, they were alive at least, and for now, but if they had just lost their shuttles then it was a long walk home. Not wanting to linger but having little choice the group watched with puzzled thoughts to the odd behaviour of the screamers, whispers and ideas were passed around along with stories, but no one understood why they just sat their snarling at them. There was also no sign of the larger creatures, they hopefully had given up. While he had five minutes Nuke took the creature he grabbed from the rubble to Sgt Fields, they both looked over it.

"Looks almost childlike." Nuke said to break the silence, the body was no more than a meter tall, long spangly arms and legs, claws on both the size of knives however. The head was shunted, like a childs, its eyes large and white, small jagged teeth and a lizard like tongue, its flesh was cold, almost a tan colour or even redbrick, it was not a Screamer, or a young screamer because there had never been a documented case. This creature again was totally unknown.

"There seems to be a lot we don't know." Added he Sgt as he stepped away.

A moment or so later Miller and Phelps returned with that distinctive look on their faces, it was as he feared. They would be walking home.

After leaving the group Miller took point as her sister followed behind.

"Typical he sends us in again." Miller mumbled only just loud enough for her twin to hear. Her long black hair sat loosely about her shoulders held in place by her helmet a vast contrast to her sisters bright ginger hair. They both shared he same facial structure, they both had matching brown eyes, each slim while Miller was the bustier of them it seemed Phelps had the brains.

"He trusts us to get the job done and get back in one piece, if he sent Rikon and Danny we'd all be bailing them out." She caught her sisters glare as she turned her head at her. "He could have sent Whiskers and Doleman..." she baited, Miller had a thing for Doleman, his rough and ready charm had woed many of the women on the base in to bed, Whiskers was his gender opposite, she had slept her way through most of he young guys, but they had never been together and if Miller had her say she would like to keep it that way.

"Cowface." Was her response, she had slept with him on more than one occasion, he liked her too but he was far too much of a player to commit, but they enjoyed the game, there was however one rule, if he ever ended up bedding Whiskers it was over, he agreed and he had resisted her several times, but she worried how much longer he could hold out, Whiskers was relentless.

As the sisters crested a small embankment the billowing smoke could be smelt in the air, they were close enough to see what was going on so using their rifle scopes they scanned what was now the remains of the shuttles. At first it looked like here was nothing there, then unexpectedly one of the large creatures appeared from behind the smoke cloud, it raised itself up on its hind legs and brought its entire body crashing onto one of the burning shuttles. Phelps zoomed her sight in to see a group of gangly little creatures jumping and swinging from one wreck to another. This day just seemed to be getting worse.

"Let's get back, we can't salvage them." Miller turned to leave before turning and grabbing her sisters shoulder and turnin her about. Above them they spotted a small group of creatures, wings out stretched gliding out from the city toward the wreckage. With nothing left to do they fled, the Sgt wasn't going to be pleased but they could do nothing about any of it.

Fields listened to their accounts and his mouth went dry, there seemed far more going on than he could imagine, four new creatures in less than twenty four hours, the Commander needed to know, the other cities needed to know. He gathered everyone together quickly, the screamers were still pacing the rooftops but nothing else had yet to show its head.

"Ok as I feared and many of you probably have as well, we have lost the shuttles, that means we have a nice long walk home, unfortunately from where we are it involves climbing the Ridge, then either following the ridge taking longer to get back, or we cut through the valley, so I'll ask and you lift your arms to agree." The group shifted, nodding and whispering agreements. "Ridge Home?" A few hands went up, he quickly counted, eight, "The Valley?" Everyone else lifted their arms, clearly they wanted to get home by the quickest route, even if it wasn't the safest.


	8. Chapter 7

With the city a good mile or so behind them the Hounds and their wards walked in three files across the barren waste of the city fringe, terracotta clay and blasted red stone stretching as far north until they reached the base of the Cardiff Ridge. Within the fringe plant life was rare, water almost non existent and the hollow remains of tiny settlements every now and then, it was a bleak place, the shuttle would pass through it on route to the city but those in the back would never witness the emptiness of the place. However due to a chain of unforseen catastrophic events the group tasked with protecting the Cardiff area would now have to walk through it to return home. No one felt ok about it.

Chatter had been at a minimum, what talk could be heared was of the new creatures they had witnessed, monstrosities of nature, even more than the screamers. The fate of mankind had been sealed by a global vote to decide if a drug that was supposed to save mankind would be put into action, the result global breakdown of immune systems, rapid mutation, those however who carried the S Synthetic Blood were immune to the drugs effects, in the end purebloods became screamers, screamers hunted those remaining and for an entire generation of children, the first six years of their lives was spent having their own blood replaced with synthetic blood, simply to stop the spread of he drugs effects. History had always been a harsh lesson to learn from, none felt it more than those the common folk called the Immortals, the high council, those who survived the brutal attack of an age long passed.

"Lacy..." Sgt Fields called forward to his daughter, she had not moved from Bretts side since leaving the city, he was concered about how the Owls were holding up. She dropped back and fell into step with him.

"Yes Dad?" She asked giving him a side look.

"How is everyone holding up? He asked putting his arm around her.

Lacy was quiet for a moment, she pulled away from her father "We are ok, doesn't seem real, I mean we have been through worse and made it home." She let her stare settle on the others, they looked like hey had he weight of the world on their shoulders. "I've let them down Dad." She said after a moment.

"No you haven't, its a hard situation to be in, losing your first is hard, losing a friend is worse and having to watch family die is heart breaking, but with what we do there is always a chance and a massive likelihood of losing people, we take it, deal with it and learn from it so it doesn't happen again. You have led them well for over a year without a loss, I was team leader for six years without a loss until I lost them all, I was here less than a week as Sgt before I lost my first Hound during a mission." He looked at his daughter a tear welling in her eye. "It doesn't get easier, you learn to hide the pain better." He pulled her head toward him and kissed her hair then let her go to rejoin the others. She seemed a little lighter, but she would never be the same this was something he hoped would never happen but it was unrealistic thinking. He looked about the group and as soon as he saw Miller he called her over.

The team of scouts gathered additional supplies then headed off, they would find somewhere for everyone to rest from the heat of the midday sun, which was now only a few hours ahead of them. Clad in their armour and carrying their gear the growing heat was getting unbareable, their water supplies were quickly dropping and little water would be found between here and the valley. Rationing what supplies they had would be key to them all getting home safely. The ground this deep into the fringe was cracked littered with deep trenches and hidden sink holes, a minefield would be saver, but Miller, Phelps, Whiskers, Doleman, Rikon and Danny navigated the terrain effortlessly. However the heat had began to take its toll and they had barely been moving for half an hour, they needed to find shelter and soon. They pushed on a little further over a jagged ridge and below them etched into the side of a ledge was what was left of an old village, finding the strength they needed they ran on to clear the area.

With the days heat now rising off the floor in a hazy wave the cool air within the abandoned homes dug in to the cliff face was very welcome indeed. Unsure when these cave like dwellings were last used they proceeded with caution, it was common for some animal life to take up home in them, the prowlcat was one such animal, a descendent of the Lynx, one of the few wild cats that survived the mass culling. However there were few signs of life at all, almost as though no one had lived here at all, ever. Whiskers had searched out the back of the house while the others mulled about, "You had better come see this." She said returning with a look of caution on her face. What they ended up looking at was a small wooden hatch sunk into the floor of the furthest room. Doleman tried to lift it open but it seemed locked from below.

"Odd, why would you lock it from below?" He muttered out loud but not intentionally.

Danny tried to open it "The only logical reason is that there is something under here" looking at the others he had that look of mischief about him "We could always pry it open?" His suggestion had merit, there could be supplies down there. Miller passed Danny her knife and he jammed it under the front left corner then he his into the right front corner and pushed down, the locks barely budged, he looked confused. "We got a problem..."

Meanwhile the others were just managing to keep putting one foot in front of the other, Giles had already fainted and was now being carried by a few of the Hounds in a makeshift hammock. The Owls were struggling the most this was way beyond their training and even more so their comfort zone. Not too far a head of them they could see a large ridge, the others must have gone over it as their foot prints were heading straight for it, if it wasn't for the scout party's foot prints Sgt Fields was sure they would have wandered off track. He just hoped Miller and her team had managed to find somewhere close by, the heat was beyond unbareable but they had no choice to keep going on. Looking across the ridge he could see no real sign of cover or a decent place to lay low, it was going to take all of their strength to get over it, and it was small, tiny even in comparison to the Cardiff Ridge they still had to climb. His will to go on was slipping from him like sand in the wind, he gave the ridge one more scan and to his amazement just cresting the ledge from the other side was a Hound, arms in the air waving like a manic, the Sgt allowed himselfna moment of hope before he commanded the group to pick up the pace. When the Sgt got to the ridge crest ahead of the others he was met by Rikon who was taking a deep swig from his canteen.

"Explain." Said Fields as he grabbed the canteen and took a mouthful.

"You are not going to believe it." He replied with a massive grin on his face.

Unable to get the locks to give way Danny grabbed his rifle and began hitting it in the center trying to break it open, but that was just as futile. Between blows Phelps heard a noise below the hatch and stopped Danny mid swing, she listened closely and finally she was rewarded with a faint sound of movement below. Grabbing her knife she lifted one of the corners just enough to peer down, there was a ladder against the wall down and as she tried to look down the ladder a head moved into view and she jumped back dropping the corner down. The others stared at her waiting "There's someone down there."

As soon as she got back to her feet a soft childs voice rose from the hatch, "Who's There?" No one said anything out of shock then the question was asked again.

"Hello sorry, we are lost, we are looking for shelter from the heat, and we are in need of water." Miller kept her voice gentle, her normal brash self would have scared whoever it was away with jo hope of return.

"Wait there, I must go and fetch someone." The voice faded and the team were left looking at each other in bewilderment. They waited no more than two maybe three minutes before another voice called out to them.

"Travellers... are you there?" The voice was that of a Woman, Miller replied they were and the voice continued to speak. "Are you friend or foe?" A resonable question they all thought.

"We are soldiers from Cardiff Prime, seeking shelter from the days heat, our shuttles were destroyed so we are travelling home on foot, we wish to cause no trouble, shelter and some water is all we seek."

The bolts on the hatch clicked free and slowly the heavy wooden hatch was lifted to reveal a hooded woman climbing up, once she was on her feet she stood about five foot seven, her face and hair covered by the full body stone grey hooded gown she wore. "Cardiff Prime, I have not heard tell of the state of the City since we left. What news do you bring?" Here eyes lit up in a faintly familiar way. A little girl climbed from the hatch and stood next to the woman. "Don't mind her, my youngest daughter to my forth mate. Pigmy is her name when she doesn't give us cause to call her by anything else." The little girl smiled.

"We are sorry to trouble you, in all honesty we had no idea anyone still lived here. We were attacked in the city, along with the rest of our group, our shuttles were destroyed by creatures we have never seen, we were sent ahead to find shelter from the heat and we found these ruins." Miller looked at the others as they nodded in agreement.

"The city fell long ago, well almost ten long years ago now, it happened without warning during the early hours, screamers everywhere, in the time it took for the Hounds to arrive the city had been lost. About one hundred of us made it here, since then more have come seeking shelter, and we have grown in number both by new comers and new borns." The Hounds stared in surprise, new borns born in the wilds, this was a huge revelation. "Our cave system is too far from the city for the creatures to venture, but we do every now and then send our own in to see what we can salvage. All of us who first arrived here have lost family, children, other loved ones to the screamers, but now this is our sanctuary." Her hand moved over the hatchway, the little girl had barely moved or said a word.

Miller turned to Rikon and sent him on his way, the Sgt needed to get here fast, the woman turned to them and smiled "My name is Gretna Summers and welcome to the burrows." She allowed them to go down the ladder after her daughter, then following behind them she slid the locks back into place.

After another round of heavy knocks on the hatch door the locks slid across amd a dark haired male looked up at the unfamiliar face of Sgt Fields. Climbing out of the hatchway the man motioned for the visitors to go down the ladder, after a few minutes the last of them had decended the ladder and the hatch had been bolted back in place. At the bottom of the ladder a large room opened up the Hounds and the Owls were being asked to leave their weapons within the room before going on into the main hub, Sgt Fields had agreed to this demand and made sure his team followed without complaint. Once they were all ready they were led through a narrow tunnel, no more than two people wide hen out into a large gathering hall where he scout group and what looked like the whole colony had gathered to welcome them. Gretna Summers was stood on a raised ledge in the middle, as the visitors gathered in front of her a face stood out from the crowd of strangers, Timothy Fields.

"If this isn't a blessing then it is a dream..." she said lifting her arms into the air then stretched them out toward the visitors. "Timothy Fields... please come up here." She stared at him and for a moment he thought he recognised her eyes, but it couldn't be. The group parted to allow their leader to move quickly and freely to the ledge, as he did he looked at those closest then suddenly he realised where he had seen those eyes before. He stopped and took Salt's hand and led her to the center.

"Timothy Fields, It has been a long time." Her eyes looked him over as he did her, she was vaguely familiar but her eyes, he thought, her eyes were older, more worn yet still held at captivating hold over you as you looked into them.

"Gretna Summers..." he said as nothing more than a whisper in case he was wrong, her response was a small smile of acknowledgement. 'We thought you dead, even Bill, we looked for you and Melissa for weeks, but we never found you or her. How do you get out?"

"A story for another time. For now come rest up, treat his as your home." She waved a few of her people forward and they began walking toward another tunnel across the hall. She turned to Timothy slowly and smiled again "Is this your daughter?" She asked looking at Salt who had suddenly taken notice of the womans features.

"No, she's yours." He replied.

Without a word she turned away and began walking off "Melissa is dead, she was..." stopping herself before she could say anymore she turned her head over her shoulders. "You bring a child here to butter me up with hope of a daughter who was too young to fend for herself, ten years on her own in that place with them, she would have suffered, yet this girl wears the same armour as the others, do not take me for a fool. Our friendship from a time long since changed will not save you from judgement over such a thing." Not waiting for a response Gretna walked off.

An uneasy silence settled over the hall and everyone barely spoke and those who did whispered. Sgt Fields looked at Salt "I'm really sorry, but from what I know and what I can see, you are her Daughter Melissa, she isn't going to accept this easily, I didn't even think about how you would feel, for that I am really sorry." The number of faces in the hall slowly dropped as those who lived within left to carry on their daily lives, with the Hounds and the other Owls looking on the Sgt signalled for them to check rations again, they would need to eat. "I knew Bill, her Husband, very well, he was my team leader when I first transfered down here, it was his persistence that got me my own team here, which was his old team, his promotion to Sgt was well deserved but short lived." A tear began to form on Salts cheek. "I also remember the bright fun loving little girl they had, always laughing and messing around with Lacy, Bill and Gretna would often visit us at the base, as Cardiff Prime was their home, they had a house not far from the old hotel. The day the city fell was like nothing I had seen, hundreds of children dragged from their homes, parents butchered while they slept. I remember being woken by Bills voice over the radio asking for full immediate support while he was still in the city. By the time we got there..."

"By the time you got there he was dead." Gretna's voice boomed from one of the tunnel entrances. "It was a long time ago, if she is my daughter where has she been all these years?"

It was a fair question however there was only one person who could really explain it, and that would involve a fair amount of listening something the old Gretna hadn't been very good at. Here however she seemed more of an authority so she probably had improve the skill needing to lead a band of misfits for so long. Sgt Fields looked at Salt then at Gretna, he hoped he had got this right, an uneasy feeling knotted his stomach as he finally turned to his group "Shall we go somewhere and talk, maybe you should listen to what this young lady has to say and decide for yourself." His smile to Salt was soft he wanted her to know he was going to be there to support her, she was after all either a Hound or an Owl, either way he was her commanding officer, she was his charge.

"She can discuss it over dinner." Gretna said as she turned to leave again. "We eat soon in the dinning hall two levels down, get comfortable here, until I know I can trust you again Tim, I have people to look after, you would do the same." He nodded as she was right he would be exactly the same.

"Until later." He replied as she walked away and left them to get sorted.


	9. Chapter 8

The scent in the air was rich, a sweet, untainted and alluring taste on the senses, the smell had steadily grown over the day and those in the nest were getting restless waiting in the dark, it wasn't a case of they couldn't go out in the sunlight, it was more of a desire to stay in the shadows, their sight was better suited to the dark, however it was getting closer to night fall and those who had stumbled into their home were quickly running out of time. Snarling and biting their warnings to each other the twisted forms of the immortal creatures of the dark hounded each other edging from their hiding places ready to hunt down those snooping around above them. The small beam of sunlight had almost totally gone, they would soon be unleashed, nothing stopped them going sooner, it was the thrill of the chase, the anticipation of the hunt, there were humans in the building and their pure blood was causing a frenzy, as the sunlight disappeared the hunting pack screamed in delight and they bolted forward.

It wasn't long before they had closed in on their prey, the scent was so strong they found the source before their target could make its escape. Yet they were not fast enough, after a short chase they had allowed the meal to slip into the fading light of the outside, but it was wounded, blood had been smeared along the gangway toward the door, in their frenzy they clawed at each other licking at the floor tasting the blood they needed. It was like nectar, sweet and its taste left them wanting more. They clawed around the door playfully letting their prey know they were still there, they waited before they rushed through the door into the empty street infront of their home. There was more blood on the floor and they lapped it up screaming in excitement as they spotted the direction their prey went. They gave chase.

A little more than a few heart beats had passed and the human had doubled back on itself leaving blood soaked rags in opposite alleys along their hunting grounds, it was playing with them, it was a game it would not win. The pack picked up their pace and rushed in two groups across the tops of the buildings. It was at this point that in the distance a stronger smell had caught their attention, more food had arrived, the entire nest could feed so they would have to get the others. One of the pack yelped then headed off over the roof tops back toward the nest. Two of the pack jumped from the roof landing on a large metal object, the sound of the metal beneath their claws distorting their hearing causing them to scrap between themselves before they finally jumped to the next building clawing up the wall until they reached the roof again.

Other packs had already left and were stalking the area looking for the source of the sweet smell that was growing steadily stronger as they searched toward the edge of the city. Time means nothing as they hunt, while it was still getting darker they would have plenty of chances to hunt those they were seeking, however they did not expect expect to be attacked, from some of their prey bright light flashed as small projectiles raced toward them, their keen sight and reflexes made it rather easy to avoid some of the projectiles, but even their instincts were no match for the sheer rate of attacks they had to deal with. Changing their approach they relied on stealth and speed, they were fast and they would use it to their advantage. It wasn't long before they had cornered one of their attackers and was rushing back to the nest, the eldest of their nest was with them, she called to them in a series of clicks and short high pitched cries before a loud noise and a flash of light knocked her to the floor while killing several of the others. The human was dropped to the floor as the elder cried for help, rushing to get her to safety they ignored the human.

The rest of the night was spent guarding the elder, their nest had gone up in flames, a set back, however their network of tunnels under the city was the main nest, hidden, dark where time was endless, they waited for the humans to return as they always did. However they didn't expect it to be so soon. The entire nest rushed through the tunnels as they heard the roar and felt the ground vibrate, their hunger pushing them on until they sensed something else, something bigger, some they were hunted by. Their cries didn't go unnoticed by those above and as soon as they were on the roof tops lookig down they could smell the blood, it called to them, but something more deadly was also coming, they watched with strained eyes in the morning light as the ground exploded and the hulking forms of their own hunters appeared. The Humans held them off before escaping across the red ground, they watched then they retreated to the tunnels once their prey had faded from view.

It was a short time later when they felt the rumble of several human objects reach the city, the scent of blood, not pure blood, was strong, they had broght numbers with them, they would be here to hunt them, so they stayed below ground, seeking even darker places to hide. If the smell of blood was that strong then they were safer below ground where other creatures could not find them. They were small compared to others, which the humans were likely to find out. There was little going on above them, however the scent of pure blood had returned, not they had reason to venture out, it would be safe, at least for now. Small parties left the tunnels through many vents and hatches across he city, avoiding those humans whose blood was not pure. Terrifying flashes and noise erupted in one of the nurseries as some humans had laid waste to all within, now they would have to pay, giving chase they forced the humans above ground again. However the scent of the pure bloods was drawing more and more of them closer. A mighty crack then the earth shaking moved the very foundations of the city, tunnels crumbled, other nurseries were crushed, cries and howls echoed across the city, then suddenly the air was turned rancid as a creature without remorse thundered forward.

There was not just one, but a small herd, probably moving inland from the coast, but they had stumbled across the humans in the city, they would hunt them for sport, as the humans would be no meal, they fed off the creatures that hunted them, it was a time of monsters eating monsters in a world that once belonged to the humans. The Elder of the nest had died during the sunlight period and the whole brood wanted blood, the humans had done what they could to kill them off, their bodies littering the streets and tunnels, but they numbered in the thousands, and with the humans on the run they too chased them across he roof tops until the edge of the city came to view, smoke billowed away in the distance, the handy work of their feared enemy, above them more of the immortal host flew overhead surveying the area, but none of this mattered now, they watched as the humans began walking out into the red lands around the city, they watched with cries of excitement as they knew where they were going, the hunt would be on come nightfall.


End file.
